A Different Kind of Forever
by Hediru
Summary: Against all odds, Rose Tyler has come back from Pete's World, is once again at the Doctor's side, and forever is possible. But could revelations about the Doctor's future without Rose mean that forever is in jeopardy? DT specials and season 5 rewrite to include Rose with original adventures, too! ON HIATUS FOR NOW
1. Prologue: Journey's End

PROLOGUE - Journey's End

The TARDIS landed at the end of a deserted street and the Doctor and Donna emerged.

"It's like a ghost town," the ginger commented to her friend.

"Donna, when you saw Rose in that parallel universe, did she say anything about what was going on?" he queried.

She shook her head. "Just that the stars were going out."

"Anything else?"

She looked over his shoulder. In the distance, a young blonde appeared, carrying a really big gun. Donna gave a little smile. This was going to be beautiful! "Why don't you just ask her?"

The Doctor's trademark smile faltered a little at that as realization dawned on him. _Ask her... but... what?_

Donna just nodded as she looked pointedly over his shoulder. His face registered disbelief and shock as he slowly turned around. There she was. _Rose_.

She looked at him and smiled, a beautiful smile that she only seemed to have for him. He ran! He had been running all his lives, but never before had he run like this! For the first time in his lives, he was running towards something, instead of away. With a humongous smile on his face he ran to her, Rose Tyler, his Bad Wolf and love of his lives.

She ran, too, and in the moment, both of them forgot about the danger they were in: the stars going out, the stolen planets, and the universe on the brink of destruction. All they knew was each other! But in a split second, reality came bursting in to ruin the moment completely. Before they could get to each other...

"EXTERMINATE!" a Dalek cried out. Before they knew what was happening, the Doctor was hit!

Captain Jack Harkness came out of nowhere and shot the thing, but it was already too late. Rose ran to him, determined to have her reunion, no matter what it took.

"Hello," she said, simply, running to his side and cradling his head in her hand.

"Hello," he replied, his humongous grin barely diminished by his injury.

"Rose, he's been hit and he's dying. You know what that means. We have to get him to the TARDIS!" Jack said, quickly.

Together, the three companions, Donna included, carried him to the TARDIS. The gravity of the situation did not stop Jack from slipping in a flirt with Donna, though. Once they got inside, Rose wouldn't leave the Doctor's side.

"Rose, you have to leave him!" Jack urged. "You know what's about to happen!"

"Why, what's about to happen?" Donna asked, panic rising in her voice.

"Time Lords have a way of cheating death," Rose replied. "They change." She then turned to the Doctor. "But you can't!" _I just got back! Don't leave me!_

 _"_ I'm sorry. I'm regenerating!" he grunted out before exploding into golden light. In the midst of the change, though, he moved, and placed his hands together, aiming the energy explosion towards the hand in the jar. The light cleared, and the Doctor remained exactly the same.

"Now, then. Where were we?" The Doctor left the others gobsmacked.

"There now," he continued, blowing on the jar with the hand in it, making it stop glowing. "You see? Used the regeneration energy to heal myself, but soon as I was done, I didn't need to change. I didn't want to. Why would I? Look at me. So, to stop the energy going all the way, I siphoned off the rest into a handy bio-matching receptacle, namely my hand. My hand there. My handy spare hand. Remember? Christmas Day, Sycorax. Lost my hand in a sword fight? That's my hand. What do you think?"

Rose just looked at him in amazement. She approached him slowly, looking him in the eyes."You're still you?"

"I'm still me."

They hugged. It wasn't quite the embrace they were going to have before he was hit, but it was wonderful nonetheless as Rose buried her face into his suit jacket. The old team was back together. Like Hope and Glory, Mutt and Jeff, and Shiver and Shake, the stuff of legends. Too bad it could never last.

...or could it?

-DW-

By the end of the adventure, the Doctor had learned just how many people were on his side. For an alien with no planet, no home, and whose species were all dead, he had a really big family. Besides Donna, Jack, and Rose, he was reunited with Sarah Jane, Martha, Mickey, and (to his shagrin) Rose's Mum, Jackie. He also learned that Jack's Torchwood team, Sarah's family, and even "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister!" (Yes, we know who you are!) had joined the cause. But there was someone else, too.

When he siphoned off his excess energy into the hand, it sparked a life of its own. It had called out to Donna, and she had touched it. At her slight touch, the hand sparked with regeneration energy and grew a complete body that at first glance appeared to be exactly like the Doctor.

It _was_ the Doctor, sort of. While the new man looked like the Doctor, talked like the Doctor (with a little of Donna's sassiness on the side), and had the same memories and feelings as the Doctor, he only had one heart - a completely human body. A human biological meta-crisis. A man who was the Doctor in every way that mattered, but whose life span matched a human.

Even as he twirled happily about the console, giving each of his friends (sans Jackie) a role in flying the TARDIS so they could tow the Earth home, the full Time Lord felt like someone had dropped a weight in his stomach. There was only one outcome for this. And he didn't like it. No, he did not like it at all!

Soon Sarah Jane left, along with Jack and Martha, who were quickly followed by Mickey. He seemed to have found a reason to stay in this universe as he casually struck up a conversation with Martha as he left. There was one stop to go. And the Time Lord dreaded it. The return to Pete's world.

Rose was not happy about it. Not one bit. "Hold on, this is the parallel universe, right?"

"You're back home," came the Time Lord's matter of fact reply.

Donna was excited with her newfound knowledge. "And the walls of the world are closing again, now that the Reality Bomb never happened. It's dimensional retroclosure. " She grinned. "See, I really get that stuff now."

But the blonde wasn't having it. "No, but I spent all that time trying to find you. I'm not going back now. "

The Time Lord regarded her sadly. "But you've got to. Because we saved the universe, but at a cost. And the cost is him." He pointed to the other Doctor. "He destroyed the Daleks. He committed genocide. He's too dangerous to be left on his own. "

The new Doctor was indignant. "You made me. "

"Exactly. You were born in battle, full of blood and anger and revenge." He turned back to Rose. "Remind you of someone? That's me, when we first met. And you made me better. Now you can do the same for him."

"But he's not you."

His eyes looked even sadder, if that was even possible. "He needs you." His voice broke ever so slightly. "That's very me."

Donna spoke up, trying to help. "But it's better than that, though. Don't you see what he's trying to give you?" she turned to the new Doctor. "Tell her. Go on."

"I look like him and I think like him. Same memories, same thoughts, same everything. Except I've only got one heart."

Rose was skeptical. "Which means?"

"I'm part human. Specifically, the aging part. I'll grow old and never regenerate. I've only got one life, Rose Tyler. I could spend it with you, if you want."

She seemed to contemplate this for a moment, then shook her head, as if physically clearing her thoughts. "I'll travel with both of you then. I don't see why we both need to stay here! I doubt either of you can really give up the TARDIS anyway."

Both Doctors and Donna looked at her in shock. "What?!"

She turned to her Mum. "Mum, you know I love you very much. But I don't belong here. I never will. My place is with him... err, them!"

Jackie embraced her daughter, tears streaking down her face. "I know, Sweetheart. We've known ever since that jumper thing-y started working that we would never see you again. I'm proud of you. And I'm happy for you! Not sure what you're gonna do with two of 'em, but then again, I probably don't want to know!" She winked. Then she addressed the Doctors. "Now I want no arguments from either of you. You are both takin' my daughter and showin' her the universe, and if either of you ever hurts her, so help me, I will find my way across this Void and slap you both so hard, leather boy's ears will fall off! Do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes Ma'am!" both Doctors replied in unison. Forget bloody Daleks. Jackie Tyler was the most terrifying thing in any universe!

"Well, I guess that settles it, then," the Time Lord muttered before plastering on a fake smile. "Allons-y! We have to get out of here before the walls close."

Rose gave her Mum another quick hug and tried not to think about how it was the last time she'd ever hug her before running to join the others in the TARDIS. At the last second, she turned around. "Tell Pete and Tony I love them, too, and will miss them very much!"

"I will!" came the choked reply. The TARDIS dematerialized as soon as Rose closed the door. Jackie sighed. It was as it should be.

-DW-

"I thought we could try the planet Felspoon. Just because. What a good name, Felspoon. Apparently, it's got mountains that sway in the breeze. Mountains that move. Can you imagine?" Doctor-Donna was perhaps even more manic than her male counterpart, and Rose laughed.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because it's in their heads. And if it's in their heads, it's in mine."

The Time Lord looked at her with concern. "And how does that feel?"

Donna's excitement was obvious. "Brilliant! Fantastic! Molto bene! Great big universe, packed into my brain. You know you could fix that chameleon circuit if you just tried hotbinding the fragment links and superseding the binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary."

Rose was now very concerned. "Donna? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Nah, never mind Felspoon. You know who I'd like to meet? Charlie Chaplin. I bet he's great, Charlie Chaplin. Shall we do that? Shall we go and see Charlie Chaplin? Shall we? Charlie Chaplin? Charlie Chester. Charlie Brown. No, he's fiction. Friction, fiction, fixing, mixing, Rickston, Brixton." She gasped and started holding her head.

There was something wrong, Rose realized, and she had a suspicion as to what it was. "Oh, Donna!"

The Time Lord addressed his companion, guilt etched into his face. "Do you know what's happening?"

"Yeah."

"She's burning up, isn't she," Rose said in a hushed, shocked voice to the human Doctor. "Like I almost did when I was Bad Wolf." It was a statement instead of a question. He just nodded and swallowed a lump his throat before turning his attention back to the other two.

The Time Lord continued. "There's never been a human Time Lord metacrisis before now. And you know why."

Donna was near tears as she realized what was about to happen. "Because there can't be." Her voice rose to a near panic. "I want to stay!"

The Time Lord took her face in his hands. "Look at me. Donna, look at me."

"I was going to be with you, all of you, forever."

"I know."

"The rest of my life, travelling in the TARDIS. The Doctor Donna. No. I can't go back. Don't make me go back. Doctor, please, please don't make me go back!" She pleaded with him, but to no avail. There was no other option. Like she herself had said only moments ago, if it was in the Doctors' head, it was in hers. She knew what he was about to do.

"Can't anything be done?" Rose whispered to the human Doctor, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"He's doing it right now," he replied, his voice thick with emotion. "He's gonna erase all of her memories about us: aliens, time travel, the TARDIS. Basically, he's resetting her mind to before we met. If she ever remembers, she'll die."

The Time Lord lifted his hands to his companion's temples. "Donna. Oh, Donna Noble. I am so sorry. But we had the best of times. The best. Goodbye." And she collapsed in his arms.

The others just watched in shocked silence as he lifted the unconscious Donna into his arms and prepared to carry her home. The others made to follow, but he stopped them. "Please. This is something I need to do on my own." And with that, Donna Noble left the TARDIS forever.

Rose and the human Doctor stared silently at the door for a few minutes. It was Rose who finally spoke. "That's just... I mean... getting trapped in a parallel universe was horrible and I never want it to happen again, but at least I had my memories. I can't even..." Her voice trailed off as she shook her head.

"She was a great friend," came the reply. "The best. Donna Noble. The greatest temp in Chis, Chis, Chis, Chis, Chis.. " He suddenly hissed in pain and grabbed his head.

Rose whirled around with sudden alarm. "Oh no! Not you, too!"

"No! But I'm a Time Lord! I'm supposed to be able to handle it! Bandle it! Sandles mitt!" he gasped again as another sharp pain burst through his head. What little Time Lord physiology remained in him was not enough to save him. It bought him a few extra minutes than Donna, but that was it, just a few minutes.

"Oh, my Doctor!" she cried, for in that moment, she no longer remembered that he was just a copy. This was her Doctor, the man that she crossed multiple universes to be with, the man she loved more than anything, and now he was dying. When another wave of pain hit him, she lowered him gently to the floor, and rested his head in her lap.

Despite his pain, he smiled at her. "Oh, I'm still your Doctor, then?"

She smiled down at him through her tears. "Forever. Is there anything I can do?"

"The only way to save me is to erase 100% of my memory, and then I'm as good as dead. Won't be me anymore."

She had figured as much, but she had to try. She gently stroked his cheek. "I love you."

"Quite right, too. And I suppose that this really is the last chance I get to say it. Rose Tyler... I love you!" He cried out in pain one more time, and that was it. He was gone.

The Time Lord returned shortly thereafter. His gaze fell upon a grief-stricken Rose sitting in the middle of the console room with his lifeless counterpart lying on her lap, and he knew immediately what had happened. He gently moved the body from her lap to the floor and helped her to her feet before enveloping her in a tight embrace.

"Oh, Rose," he choked, as this final tragedy was what finally broke the dam of his emotions. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."


	2. Chapter 1: The Universe is Cruel

**Thanks, Zere, for the very kind review! Sorry that the prologue was basically a rehash, but that won't be the case here. Mind your feels!**

CHAPTER 1

They stood that way for the longest time, arms wrapped around one another in the tightest embrace. Neither of them moved or spoke; they just clung to the comforting presence of the other as if their life depended on it, and, they reflected, perhaps it did.

To say that the last couple of days had been an emotional rollercoaster for the two of them was a gross understatement. Rose had not experienced such extremes of highs and lows in such a short period of time in her entire life! First, she was thrilled to have made it to her original universe; only to learn that it really was a pocket universe where the Doctor was dead. Then she helped Donna fix things; only to discover that Earth was stolen and no one could reach the Doctor. Then contact was made with the Doctor; but he didn't know that she was there. Finally, finally, they were reunited; but he was shot by a Dalek in the process. On and on it went, until finally Rose found herself with no family and no home; but she was in the arms of the Doctor. She smiled to herself. Despite all of the heartache, she was so glad that she ended up here. For the first time since she got herself trapped in Pete's World almost five years ago (well, it was for her at least. Who knows how long it was for him?), Rose Tyler was finally home!

The Doctor's emotions were no less turbulent. He'd never thought he'd never see Rose Tyler again, and yet here she was, in his arms. He was overcome with emotion. What did he ever do to deserve such a gift? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. In fact, he surmised that he actually deserved to have her taken away from him. Which is why he clung to her so tightly. Never again was he taking her presence for granted. He shook his head in disbelief: he had almost lost her again, the very same day he had finally gotten her back! Was he really going to just leave her behind with his double? Yes, he realized, yes he was. If Rose hadn't insisted that she travel with both of them, and had Jackie not threatened his Ninth self's ears as added incentive, he would have made the biggest mistake in all his lives. Even bigger than the Time War. Because both Donna and the double would have still burned, and then where would that have left them? They'd both be alone now, and there'd be no one to blame but himself. He fought back tears as he clung to her, beyond grateful to have this second (third?) chance with the love of his lives.

Because, he finally admitted to himself, that's who she was to him. He had spent his entire Ninth life and most of his Tenth in frightened denial of this fact, convinced that it would hurt less when he lost her if he didn't admit his feelings. In reality, he ended up with a laundry list of "woulda-coulda-shouldas", in addition to his two shattered hearts - and they were no less broken for it. He also knew beyond a doubt that he would always love her, no matter how many times he will regenerate in the future. Suddenly, he knew what he needed to do, and he had to do it now before he lost his nerve.

"Rose?" he whispered, hesitant to break the silence.

"Yes, my Doctor?" Her voice was quiet, but strong. She gazed up at him expectantly.

He opened his mouth to continue, to finally pour out his heart's desire and those three little words that she so longed to hear, when he suddenly stopped. A new thought had occured to him, one that he did not like in the least. It was a memory of a trip to a certain Library and a certain woman from his future who seemed to have a very important place there: a woman who knew his name, his true name, and the certainty that there was only one way she could have ever learned it. In an instant, his profession of love turned into a strangled cry, as he realized what this meant for him and Rose. Rose would have to leave.

"It's not fair!" he cried, this time not even trying to hold back his tears, so great was his pain. "I just got you back! I can't lose you again!"

Rose's reaction was one of alarm. She had seen the look in his eyes just seconds before, and was confused by this outburst, to say the least. Thinking that he was fearfully looking ahead to a time when she would die and he would once again be alone, she sought to quell those fears. "Who says you're gonna lose me? I don't plan on leaving you anytime soon."

She brought his hand up to the left side of her chest. "Feel that?" He nodded ever so slightly, wondering what she was getting at. Then she brought his other hand up to the other side of her chest, staring at him intently in the face as she did so, with a small smile. His eyes widened in disbelief. _Two_ hearts! Rose Tyler had _two_ hearts!

"What?" he stammered. "What?"

"It happened on one of my dimension jumps. The canon misfired and exploded. I... well, I died. Except... well, I woke up some time later. And when I did, I was... well, different. When I got back to Torchwood, I ran some secret tests on myself to see what the hell had happened. And the results... well, how about I let you find out?" She grinned at him cheekily then, full on Rose Tyler cheeky grin with her tongue in between her teeth.

He swallowed. That grin always did things to his insides, and this was certainly no exception! That grin coupled with this rather shocking new information wrecked such havoc on him that he no longer trusted his own voice not to betray him. He simply got out his sonic screwdriver and scanned her basic biological information. The results both thrilled and terrified him.

SUBJECT NAME: Rose Marion Tyler

AGE: 25

PLANET OF ORIGIN: Earth

SPECIES: Time Lord

He was gobsmacked and completely forgot how to speak. She grinned her famous grin again, but this time it was even wider, if that was even possible. "So, it seems to me that once upon a time, I promised you forever. I know I haven't been that good at keeping such promise as of late, but I fully intend to keep it from now on!"

"What?" he stammered again. "What?"

"It was Bad Wolf. It must've been. That's the only logical explanation I can come up with," she continued. "When I looked into the heart of the TARDIS and absorbed the entirety of the time vortex, I must've rewritten my DNA somehow. The effects of this change, however, were not apparent until I died - that was when the Bad Wolf was fully unleashed as it were." She couldn't stop smiling during her entire story. It's not every day that you know something that the Doctor doesn't! It probably would never happen again, so she relished the opportunity to explain something to him for once. "So..." she hesitated. "What do you think?"

What did he think? He didn't know what to think. This was impossible; completely wonderful, but completely, absolutely, 100% impossible! So he said the only thing he could. "I must be dreaming!"

She grinned again. "Nope! 'Cause if you were, I'd be dreaming too, and it'd be quite awkward if we were sharing the same dream, yeah?" She laughed. Her laugh sounded like music to his ears. This was perfect, absolutely perfect!

Except that it wasn't. "You have to go," the Doctor stated suddenly and a bit harshly, as he tried not to let his emotions show.

Now it was Rose's turn to be shocked. "What?" This was _not_ the reaction she was expecting! She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but certainly not this! "What?" she stammered again.

"I'm sorry, really I am, but you're gonna have to trust me on this one and just leave!" He sounded angry, but he was not angry with her; never with her. The whole bloody situation was just beyond his control.

Her eyes narrowed. "Give me one bloody good reason why!" She was hurt, and her pain chose to express itself as anger. "And don't give me any of that bull crap of how this life is dangerous or you're dangerous, et cetera et cetera. I knew all that when I signed up to travel with you the _first_ time! And I don't care!"

"Oh, I have a good reason!" he yelled back.

"Then care to let me in on it?" she snided.

"You won't like it."

"Oh, I think that that is very obvious! What is it, huh? Did ya get another girlfriend while I was gone?" She didn't really think that he did. She was just trying to get underneath his skin.

He was suddenly silenced, and his jaw snapped shut before he opened it, hesitatingly again. "Well... not exactly..."

"Oh, this is rich!" she folded her arms across her chest, reminding both of them of his Ninth self as she did so. "So, tell me about her. Who is she?"

"Her name's River Song. And... she's not my girlfriend exactly, she's more like a, well, by a technical standard of the definition, she's technically not even that considering our time lines run differently..."

"Spit. It. Out. Doctor!" she said through gritted teeth.

"She'smyfuturewife," he blurted out all at once.

She could not have heard that correctly! "What? You're engaged?!" Her face reflected exactly how deeply hurt she was at this information.

"Well..." He reached his hand up and tugged on his ear, an old habit of his when he was nervous. "Not really, no. I can definitely say no. I barely even know her. But I met her once and now I have to marry her."

"You _have_ to marry her? What'd you do? Knock her up?!"

His eyes widened at that thought. "What? No! Absolutely not! I can definitely say with 100% certainty that I have not quote on quote 'knocked her up'!"

"Then you'd better explain. Now!" Blimey an angry Rose Tyler was terrifying!

"Okay, look. Donna and i went to the Library. Not the library on the TARDIS, not just a library on some planet; the entire planet is the Library - no name needed, just a great big 'The'. It has every single book that has ever been written anywhere in the universe. Did you know that it even has an entire room dedicated soley to books on bananas? I mean, imagine it, Rose! An entire room!"

"DOCTOR!" Usually she found his ramblings to be interesting or even a bit adorable, but now she saw it for what it really was - a distraction tactic. And that annoyed her.

"Right. So, anyway, an archeology team came while we were there to do research, headed by one River Song. She said that she knew me and was disappointed that I didn't know her. She was from my future, you see. Apparently, she's a time traveler as well, and we don't always meet in the right order. So the Library had the unfortunate circumstance to be infested with Vashta Nervada, really nasty stuff; these lovely shadows that strip you to the bone and have you for dinner in only a matter of seconds. River had seen them before, apparently on a trip with a future me, and used her sonic screwdriver, yes _her_ sonic screwdriver, to analyze how many there were. There was something about her that made me feel uncomfortable, and I didn't trust her, so she exasperatedly proved to me that she was trustworthy. She whispered my name, my _real_ name, into my ear!"

Rose bit back a bit of jealousy. This woman knew his name? She'd always wanted to know his name! Why hadn't he ever told her? She was trustworthy! Still, she tried to act like this was no matter. "So she knew your name. So what?"

"Rose, the secret name of a Gallifreyan is so sacred that it cannot be known by anyone except for the biological parents or a bond-mate which is basically a spouse. In fact, it is impossible for the name to be shared ouside of a marital bond! It is communicated telepathically in the marriage ceremony. Even if I wanted to share my true name with someone else, I couldn't unless I was married to them."

Rose was beginning to understand. She didn't like it, but she saw where this was going. "And your parents are... well, she can't be your mother, which leaves the only other option: wife." Her voice felt unnaturally calm considering the circumstances. "And now that you know that it's going to happen, you have to make it happen in order to keep the time lines in line."

"It's a little bit more than that, actually," he continued, feeling a little bit more relaxed now that Rose seemed to understand. "She saved my life that day. No. More than that. She sacrificed her life so that I could live. Forget regeneration. I would not be alive today if it wasn't for her. Don't you see? I have to marry her in order to save my own skin!"

Rose nodded. What could she say to that? She supposed she deserved it. She did ask for "one good reason" why she should leave, and she got it. For she understood, truly understood; not just what he was saying, but what he wasn't. If she stuck around, he would not be able to marry River Song, because he'd much rather marry _her_.

"Well, isn't this a fine kettle of fish?" she sighed in resignation.


	3. Chapter 2: Four Lonely Hearts

**Sorry that this chapter took awhile to post. I know where I want this story to end up, but I've had a little trouble figuring out how I'm gonna get there. With this new direction, this is sort of a _Torchwood_ crossover fic, though not a whole lot of reference will be made to that show save in passing. I apologize to those who are not as familiar with this series. Unlike canon, in this verse, Tosh and Owen did not die at the end of season 3, and they are finally a couple. Like canon, Gwen is newly married to Rhys, and Jack and Ianto are together. **

CHAPTER 2

After that heartbreaking revelation, Rose agreed that yes, she would indeed have to leave. She would gather up her things, and the Doctor would take her to Torchwood in Cardiff with Jack where she would work as a member of that team. But before he could plug in the coordinates, he embraced her again, clinging to her even more tightly than before.

"I'm sorry, I'm so very sorry!" he choked.

Rose clung back, stroking his hair as she did so to attempt to soothe him. But there was no soothing this. She just couldn't believe it! After crossing multiple dimensions and encountering dangers of many kinds, after giving up her family for him, after changing species to be with him, they still couldn't be together! Life is exceedingly cruel. "'S not your fault," she whispered. She had meant to sound more soothing than that, but that was all the strength she could muster at the moment.

After a few beats, he whispered, "I love you, Rose Tyler."

The tears flowed freely then, and Rose didn't even bother to try to stop them. "Oh my Doctor," she choked out. "Do you realize how long I've waited to hear those words?" She brought her hands up to his face and cupped it gently, only then realizing that tears were streaming down his cheeks as well. "I love you, too, you daft old alien!"

Their lips met then in a bittersweet kiss, filled with all the longing and the words that until that moment had remained unsaid. Oh, how could he ever let her go now, and how could she ever really leave? But Rose loved her Doctor so much and would do anything to keep him safe, even let him go if she had to, apparently. Still, it was the hardest thing they'd ever have to do.

She contemplated telling him that she didn't have to leave right away, that they could run off into the vortex and have many years together before he encountered River again. She even contemplated insisting on staying, but keeping their relationship platonic like it was before so that he was free to get married. But she knew that these things would only make the situation worse. The longer she stayed, the harder it would be for her to go, and having a platonic relationship with the love of her life while watching him marry someone else would have been completely impossible. She wanted to scream and rant and rave at the universe at the unfairness of it all, but who would listen? Time is unkind to most people, but none more so than the last Time Lord and Lady. She laughed at this cruelest of cruel ironys. She was now a victim of the curse of the Time Lords as well, and was losing the one person she should have never lost!

The TARDIS materialized in the Hub, startling a sleeping Captain Jack. It was a rare night when Ianto did not sleep over. The doors of the blue box opened, and he watched as Rose Tyler stepped out, a large bag slung over her shoulder. To his shock and amazement, the Doctor did not follow, but the TARDIS dematerialized again, leaving her behind.

"Jack?" Rose called out. "You here?"

"Rosie!" he ran to embrace her. He pretended not to notice that she was left behind and that it was obvious that she had been crying. Something had happened, and she'd tell him when she was ready.

"So, I, um, kinda need a job. Got any openings here?"

"Always for you, Rosie."

-DW-

She very quickly became an asset to the Torchwood team. The others were skeptical at first, but she won them over easily with her charm, wit, and deadly good skill with a gun. Her extensive knowledge of aliens didn't hurt either. Jack had found her a little room to sleep in in the Hub itself so that she didn't have to find a flat - not that she did much sleeping these days, anyway. Due to her new biology, she found herself needing less and less sleep and as time wore on, she was more likely to wander the Hub at night rather than sleep.

Most nights, Jack couldn't sleep, either, and they spent many a night wandering the Hub together, talking about this, that, and the other. Often they'd both go Weevil hunting, and soon, the pair was taking all of the night shifts together. Ianto still spent the night frequently, and Rose was quick to give them their privacy on those occasions. It was on those nights especially, when Jack was in Ianto's arms, Gwen was in the arms of her husband, and Tosh and Owen were doing who knows what together, that Rose missed the Doctor the most. These were the nights that she wandered outside the Hub, gazing longingly at the stars, wondering when and where he was at that moment. Was he safe? Was he alone? On nights like this, she missed him so badly that it physically hurt, and she drew no comfort from knowing that he missed her just as badly. This couldn't be the end of their story, not really, could it?

One night, Jack joined her. He knew what she was doing. Jack Harkness considered himself to be a very patient man when it came to his friends, but Rose had been with Torchwood for about 6 months now, and she had never once mentioned why the Doctor left her. She gave the impression that she was just fine with it, that she was even moving on with her life, but he could clearly see now that that was far from the truth.

"Talk to me, Rosie. Why are you here?" His voice was soft and kind.

"I needed a job, and I knew you could help with that."

"Yes, but why? I wasn't going to bring this up until you were ready, but it has been 6 months, Rose. And you're not the same girl anymore. I can understand wearing a mask in front of the others, but not in front of me. It's not healthy for you to keep this bottled up inside. Talk to me. What happened with you and the Doc?"

"We just decided to go our separate ways."

"That's a load of bull crap, and you know it. Anyone who has ever seen the two of you together would have to be blind not to see that you are both crazy about each other, and anyone who has ever seen the two of you apart knows just how lost you are without the other. Don't try to tell me that you just agreed to split up just like that. If it had been a fight, he'd have come back for you the very next day and begged forgiveness. For crying out loud, the Void can't even separate you two! What the hell happened, Rosie?"

The tears that she'd been holding back for the last 6 months now threatened to spill out all at once. This was Jack after all, the one person she could trust, indeed the only person she loved in the entire universe save for the Doctor himself. If she couldn't talk to Jack, who could she talk to? So as the first trickle of tears leaked from her eyes, she poured out the whole sordid tale of how one day, the Doctor would have to marry River Song.

"But... that... oh, Rosie! Come here!" Jack embraced her with a hug. It wasn't Jack's usual flirtatious hug that seemed to suggest he'd like to do more; but it was a special hug for his best friend, Rose Tyler, a woman he loved like a little sister - if it was socially acceptable to flirt with your sister, that is.

"I just don't understand one thing, Rosie. You said that someday he'd have to marry her. Someday could be quite a ways off, and no offense, but you're not getting any younger. Who's to say that this woman isn't from so far in his future that you're long gone before it becomes an issue."

She sighed. "I'm a Time Lady, now, Jack. Some kind of residual effect lingering around from Bad Wolf. There's not going to _be_ a time when I'm long gone!"

He inhaled sharply at that bombshell. "So you're telling me that not only did you give up your family for him and travel cross multiple dimensions for him, but that you actually changed species to be just like him, and fate still won't allow you two to be together?" He whistled and embraced her. "That's... there are no words... I just... oh, Rosie! I... " here he paused. "Did you know that I'm immortal?"

"I didn't until the Crucible. I mean, you were exterminated right in front of me. No one could survive that! And yet, here you are, and you're fine!"

"Right. Not to add to your pain, but it's another, how'd you put it, 'residual effect from Bad Wolf'."

She gasped at that, a hazy golden memory of that day on the Game Station made suddenly clearer. _I bring life._ "I did that? Oh, Jack, I'm so sorry!"

"Don't ever apologize for caring for me so much that you don't want me dead. So you got a little carried away with the whole resurrection thing. I'm alive today because of you, and I'm grateful."

"You're a freak because of me!" she blurted out. Then she realized how that must've sounded. "I'm sorry, Jack. I didn't mean it that way. It's just, well... You're cursed the same way the Doctor and I are. Everyone you love will die before you or leave you, and it's all my fault!"

He chuckled. "Not everyone. Besides, not being able to stay dead has some perks."

"Like what?"

"I can pull a hell of a Halloween prank!" He gave her a wink and laughed. She laughed too, despite the pit in her stomach.

Jack's tone then got more serious. "So, since we're both gonna be around for quite some time, and we care about each other, I'm gonna make you a promise. I am not the Doc, nor will I ever try to replace his place in your heart, err... hearts now. But I can promise that as long as you stick with me, you'll never be alone, and I'll never leave you. I swear!"

"Oh, Jack!" She sobbed, burying her face into his WWII jacket. "Thank you! I don't know what I'd do without you!"

Life for Rose Tyler settled into a new routine that reminded her quite acutely of her time in Pete's World, the main difference being that she no longer had a family to go home to. Sometimes she wondered why she'd bothered ever leaving that world in the first place. After all, she's still not where she'd like to be. But then she'd remember the Doctor's choked confession, and somehow, it was still worth it. She didn't know how, but even now she believed that their story was far from over. It had to be!

-DW-

Across time and space, somewhere, somewhen in the time vortex, the Doctor leaned against the consol of his brillant timeship and sighed heavily. It had been just over 6 months since he dropped Rose off in Cardiff, and he had had a few adventures, but his hearts weren't in it anymore. He couldn't remember a time that he had ever felt this depressed; not even after the Time War, not even after he lost Rose the first time, though that had been pretty close. This was so much worse. Rose was here in his universe, and she was very much alive and it looked as if she would remain so for quite some time. Finally, she loved him. His pink and yellow human who had wormed her way into his hearts loved him! For a few blissful minutes, it had seemed as if the universe was actually smiling on him for once and letting him have a forever with Rose. But alas, it was not to be.

He hated River Song. He knew it wasn't logical; after all, this wasn't her fault. It's not like she set out to create a circular paradox to entrap him into marrying her instead of Rose... right? Suddenly, he wasn't so sure. He knew it wasn't fair for him to hate her, after all he hadn't when he met her. She seemed like a nice enough girl, and she did save his life. But now she was the only thing keeping him from Rose, and he hated her for it. He knew that it wasn't good for him to hate her. After all, he was going to have to marry her. While love is unfortunately optional in a marriage, it usually helps, and hating your future spouse is a surefire way to be unhappy for a very long time.

He hated himself. This, of course, was nothing new, but the reasons were. He hated himself for being a Time Lord and having the responsibility of maintaining timelines. He hated that he was a lonely old man who was able to fall in love with Rose so easily. He hated himself for not telling her sooner. He hated himself for being able to send her away. He hated himsef for not being able to move on.

Perhaps it was right that he'd die soon. He'd been told recently and on more than one occasion that his song would be ending soon. True, more than likely it meant that he would regenerate, but even so, this him would die and a new man would saunter away in his place. Perhaps upon regeneration, he would be able to forget her and move on. He snickered to himself. He'd move on all right; move on to River Song. He found that he was actually looking forward to someone knocking four times.

 **Hey, you! Please review!**


	4. Chapter 3: Here We Go Again

**Right. So here we are. The plot moves forward now. Oh, and Owen is not undead, or whatever he was for most of Torchwood season 3. That whole story line creeped me out. Not a really necessary piece of info for this story, but there ya go.**

 **Thanks for the lovely reviews! Keep em comin!**

CHAPTER 3

Morning in the Hub found six rather cranky Torchwood agents.

"Ianto, be a dear and put on another pot of coffee, would ya?" Jack hollered at his boyfriend. "Owen here looks like death warmed over, and the ladies look like they want to eat me alive - and not in a good way!"

"Have you looked at yourself lately, Jack?" Gwen spouted at him. "You're not exactly looking like man of the year today either."

"Wow, someone woke up on the bitchy side of the bed this morning," Jack retorted. "Ianto! Better make it two pots!" he called up the stairs.

"Good, I could drink an entire pot of that myself, and I don't even _like_ coffee!" Rose sighed.

"You'll have to fight me for it, then," came Tosh's sarcastic reply.

"For crying out loud, we'll all get the bloody coffee!" Owen yelled.

Just then, Ianto came down the stairs with a mug for everyone. He took in the scene, shook his head and sighed before picking up the empty tray and heading back upstairs. "I'll put on a third," he sighed.

"What is wrong with everyone this morning?" Jack inquired, exasperation evident in his tone.

"Dunno about everyone else, but I couldn't sleep last night. At all!" Owen groaned.

"Tosh kept you busy?" This was asked by (who else?) Jack, accompanied by a dirty grin.

"Man sakes!" Gwen yelled before either Tosh or Owen could. "Don't you ever think of anything else?!"

"Just figure that out, did you?" Rose snorted, as she sipped her brew. "Jack's mother should have just called him Randy!"

Before anyone could respond to that (fairly accurate) comment, a shrill alarm was emitted from the computer console.

"Jack, you might want to take a look at this! I've never seen such a huge energy spike coming from the Rift before." Tosh waved the entire team over. "It looks like the Rift's gonna blow!"

"Yes, and we're right in the middle of it! How long do we have?" Jack took charge.

Ianto gulped, "Full impact in exactly 2 minutes, 34 seconds."

"Then what are we standing around here for! We need to run!" Rose cried before sprinting off.

Everyone else looked at Jack. "What are you all looking at me for? You heard the lady! Run!"

As they made it outside, Ianto's stopwatch beeped. And nothing happened. Just... nothing.

"I don't understand..." Tosh started.

But Rose suddenly felt a shiver travel up her spine. Something had happened. Something, no some _one_ had just entered this universe. Someone whose menacing presence made himself known only to herself because of her new telepathic nature. Someone who was supposed to be dead. In that instant, Rose knew why no one was able to sleep last night. They had all had a bad dream!

-DW-

Meanwhile, just across the English channel...

"Did we do it? Is that him?" An old man pointed towards the Doctor.

"Tall and thin, big brown coat." Another replied, sizing the Doctor up.

A rather cheeky old lady who could have passed for an old Jackie Tyler nodded eagerly. "The Silver Cloak. It worked. Because Wilf phoned Netty, who phoned June, and her sister lives opposite Broadfell, and she saw the police box, and her neighbour saw this man heading east." Yes, this is exactly how Jackie will turn out, he grimaced. Then he noticed one old man in particular.

"Wilfred?" It was indeed Wilfred Mott, Donna's grandfather.

"Yeah?"

The Time Lord beant over to whisper in the old man's ear. "Have you told them who I am? You promised me."

He dismissed the alien's worries. "No, I just said you were a doctor, that's all. And might I say, sir, it is an honor to see you again." He then saluted.

The Jackie wanna-be turned on the charm. "Oh, but you never said he was a looker. He's gorgeous. Take a photo."

"Not bad, eh? Me next." One of the other old men lined up to get his picture taken as well. The Doctor groaned. The Master was back, the world could be coming to an end any second, and these people wanted a photo op.

And apparently a flirt as well. "I'm Minnie. Minnie the Menace. It's a long time since I had a photo with a handsome man." He was proud of himself for not rolling his eyes.

Wilf tried to come to his rescue. "Just get off him. Leave him alone, will you?"

But Minnie wasn't finished. "Hush, you old misery. Come on, Doctor. Give us a smile. That's it."

"Hold on. Did it flash?" This was one of the old men again. He obviously had issues with the camera.

"No, there's a blue light," Minnie replied. "Try again."

"I'm all fingers and thumbs." The camera man struggled.

 _That's not all you're gonna be if you don't hurry it up!_ The Doctor thought to himself before saying aloud, "I'm really kind of busy, you know."

Minnie brushed him off, though. "Oh, it wont take a tick. Keep smiling."

Suddenly, the Doctor felt something pinch his bottom. Oh, for Pete's sake! "Is that your hand, Minnie?"

The old woman grinned at him cheekily. "Good boy."

-DW-

Rose filled in the rest of the team with what she had sensed. Jack was incredulous. "The Master's still alive?! But he can't be! I saw him die!"

"No offense Jack, but that doesn't mean a thing," Owen remarked.

"Yeah, we've all seen you die on multiple occasions. Yet, here you are!" Gwen pointed out.

He had to admit that they had a point.

Rose may have sensed the Master's presence, but it was Jack who'd had the unfortunate first hand experience of the year that never was. So he filled the others in on what he knew. Soon, they'd come up with a plan. It was a very simple plan. Well, simple in that there was only one step to it, but it was a very difficult step: find the Doctor.

Rose would use her new Time Lord sense to locate both Time Lords. They'd locate the Doctor, first, however, and then assist him in whatever daft plans he came up with. Not the most brillant of plans, but when it comes to dealing with the Master, the Torchwood team knew when they were out of their depth.

Which is how she found herself sitting in a corner booth at a cafe in London a few hours later, sipping her tea, and trying (and failing!) to act non-chalant as Wilf and the Doctor walked in.

They didn't seem to notice her, though she doubted that the Doctor was truly as oblivious as he seemed since every fiber of her soul was desperately crying out to him to turn and look at her, despite her efforts not to. The two men seemed engrossed in a private conversation. Their voices were quiet, but Rose's newly enhanced hearing did not miss a single word.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Wilfred Mott. "

"No. People have waited hundreds of years to find me and then you manage it in a few hours."

"Well, I'm just lucky I suppose. "

Rose had to smile at that.

"No, we keep on meeting, Wilf. Over and over again like something's still connecting us. "

"What's so important about me?"

"Exactly. Why you?" _Still rude and not ginger._ Rose smiled to herself as the Doctor paused for a moment.

"I'm going to die." _Wait, what?_

But the old man brushed it off. "Well, so am I, one day. "

"Don't you dare."

"All right, I'll try not to."

"But I was told. He will knock four times. That was the prophecy. Knock four times, and then..."; his voice trailed off. Rose's eyes began to burn with unshed tears as what he'd said sank in.

"Yeah, but I thought, when I saw you before, you said your people could change, like, your whole body."

"I can still die. If I'm killed before regeneration, then I'm dead. Even then, even if I change, it feels like dying. Everything I am dies. Some new man goes sauntering away, and I'm dead." _Not everything,_ Rose thought to herself, wistfully remembering her first Doctor, all ears and leather. There was still a good bit of that Doctor inside the one who was speaking with Wilf now.

Wilf was suddenly distracted by something outside the window. "What?" the Doctor inquired.

It was Donna. She was getting out of her car. Wilf looked at the Doctor guiltily before practically begging that the Doctor fix her. It seems as though she was finally engaged again, but despite her happiness, there always seemed to be something missing.

"Sometimes I see this look on her face, like she's so sad, but she can't remember why. "

"She's got him."

"She's making do."

"Aren't we all?"

"Yeah, how about you? Who have you got now? " Rose really wanted to know the answer to that as well.

"No one. Travelling alone. I thought it was better. But I did some things. It went wrong. I need..." _Rose. I need Rose._ He started to cry.

She couldn't take it anymore. She didn't care who saw or what anyone said, especially him. She just stood up from her table, walked over, and wrapped her arms around him in a protective embrace, tears freely falling from her own eyes as well.

At first he was shocked, but very quickly, the shock gave way to relief as his misty tears turned into full body shaking sobs and he found that he was clinging onto her for dear life. "Rose, oh _Rose!"_ he choked out.

At the mention of that name, Wilf needed no explanation as to what was going on. Donna had filled him in many times of the Doctor's lost Rose. The old man stood, paid all three bills, and quietly walked out without saying a word.

After the Doctor calmed a little, Rose radioed the rest of the Torchwood team. "Bad Wolf to home base. Bad Wolf to home base. I have..." her voice faltered a little. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I have..." she took a deep breath and tried again. "I've found him."

It was Jack who replied, and Rose was glad that she was wearing an ear piece and the Doctor couldn't hear. "Very good! I'm glad! And Rosie? Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope you don't come back."

"Understood. Bad Wolf out."

She then looked down at her Doctor, for he would always be her Doctor, no matter what; he had stopped sobbing, but the tears were still flowing freely, and he still clung to her tightly. She leaned over and kissed his forehead they way he always used to do for her and whispered, "Where's the TARDIS?"

He slowly got up, and without saying a word, they walked hand-in-hand out the door.

-DW-

It was Rose who sent the time and spaceship into the time vortex. The Doctor made sounds of protest, but she shushed him, saying, "It's a timeship, yeah? We can drift here in the vortex for a millennia and still land a minute after we left. Established events won't get mucked about. Ok?"

He was still unnaturally silent as he seemed to consider what she'd said. Finally, he was able to swallow the lump in his throat enough to whisper, "Ok."

He pulled her into him, and clung to her desperately. In that moment, River Song was completely forgotten by both. All that mattered was that here and now, they were together. Soon, he began to tremble, and her blouse began to feel wet where his new silent tears began to fall. She held him even closer. She knew he was terrified of what was to come.

"Oh, my Doctor!" she said, holding onto him, and stroking his hair. "My strong, brave, defender-of-the-universe Doctor! For 906 years, you have taken care of everyone else. When was the last time anyone has ever taken care of you? Let me. Let me take care of you. Let me love you."

His response was to cling to her even tighter as his silent tears turned into sobs. Together, they sank towards the floor where they discovered some cushions that the TARDIS had placed there. They sank back into them, Rose stroking his hair and occasionally kissing his forehead as the Doctor's tears slowly dried and he drifted off to sleep.

He awoke a couple of hours later, having had the best sleep he'd had since before Canary Wharf. He looked over at Rose to thank her when he noticed that she, too, was asleep. Feeling a bit more like himself, he kissed her on the forehead and gently extricated himself from her arms. He gazed down at her. She was so beautiful! She'd always been gorgeous, but when she was asleep, she looked simply angelic. Not for the first time, he wondered how he'd ever gotten so lucky.

He walked over to the consol and set the coordinates for about a minute after they'd left. Turning around, he smiled at her wistfully while sending pleas to the TARDIS to protect her before silently opening the door and leaving.

She awoke a couple hours after that, and upon finding an empty consol room, she sighed deeply, before heading out to see what sort of trouble he was in this time.

What she'd found shocked her and sent chills up and down her spine. Everywhere she'd looked, there were people, but they all had the same face. Men, women, children: all had the face of the Master. Suddenly, a shadow fell over the land. She looked up to see a giant red planet coming closer and closer to Earth's orbit.

"Oh, we're in big trouble, now!" She said to no one in particular before reaching into her coat pocket to find the vortex manipulator that Jack had given her for emergencies. Well, if this wasn't an emergency, then nothing was! The Doctor had jammed it so it couldn't travel in time, but it could handle space pretty well. Using her time sense to try and pinpoint their locatio, she tapped in the coordinates on her wrist and arrived in the conference room just as the Time Lords returned.


	5. Chapter 4: The End of Time?

**You all liked the cliffhanger, did you? Well, just you wait!**

CHAPTER 4

The Lord President of Gallifrey, Rassilon, and his entourage appeared on a platform. The Lord President spoke. "My Lord, Doctor. My Lord, Master. We are gathered for the end."

The Doctor tried in vain to reason with him. "Listen to me. You can't! "

He was ignored as Rassilon continued. "It is a fitting paradox that our salvation comes at the hands of our most infamous child."

"Oh, he's not saving you. Don't you realise what he's doing?" The Doctor wasn't giving up!

But the Master was loving this. Finally, he got to play the hero! "Hey, no, hey! That's mine. Hush. Look around you. I've transplanted myself into every single human being." He paused to consider that maybe he could do more. "But who wants a mongrel little species like them, because now I can transplant myself into every single Time Lord. Oh, yes, Mister President, sir, standing there all noble and resplendent and decrepit. Think how much better you're going to look as me."

But before the Master could do anything, Rassilon raised his gauntlet, and all of the Masters changed back into their human selves, much to the Master's disappointment. Rassilon then commanded for all of mankind to kneel, and they did, recognizing the authority that the Lord President obviously possessed.

Phase I of his plan complete, Rassilon prepared for Phase II. "The approach begins."

The Master, having turned himself human and escaped the end of the Time War, was clueless. But the Doctor wasn't. He knew what the Time Lords had planned, and it terrified him to the very core of his being. "Something is returning. Don't you ever listen? That was the prophecy. Not someone, something."

"What is it? "

"They're not just bringing back the species. It's Gallifrey. Right here, right now."

Everyone looked up to see the large red planet's approach, as Rose materialized in the room. She was unnoticed at first, as the Master tried to bargain to get on Rassilon's good side. Wilf barged in at that moment, and saw a technician in the locked glass booth. Before she could stop him, he had released the technician, trapping himself inside instead. Rose felt dread in the pit of her stomach. She didn't know how, but she knew that the old man's unselfish act was going to spell bad new for the Doctor. Not able to do anything for the moment, she turned her attention back to the scene in front of her.

Rassilon was sniffing the air like a hunting dog tracking the scent of its prey. "Silence!" he shouted, stopping the bickering of the two Time Lords in front of him. "Another Time Lord walks among us. No." He sniffed again. "Not a Lord, but a Lady. But all Ladies should be dead except for the two with me. Why do I sense another? Show yourself."

Rose swallowed. She really hadn't expected to have been caught so quickly, but then again, if the combined scents of the Doctor and Master was what had led her here, how could she expect to go undected from the Lord of the Time Lords himself? Swallowing again, she decided to put on the false bravado that she had seen the Doctor wear so many times and swaggered to the front of the room. "Aww! And here I thought that I'd come to the party and blend in! Very good time sense, sir, very good!" She made a show of mock applause and came to stand next to the Doctor, nodding bravely at him in acknowledgement. She did not take his hand, though, much as she wanted to. She instinctively knew that even hinting at their intimacy before the Lord President would only make their situation worse.

"Who are you?!" Rassilon's voice thundered throughout the room. "I make it my business to know every Time Lord and Lady, and I do not know you!"

Rose laughed mockingly. "Those whom I love and whom I can trust know be by one name, but I'm afraid that that is not a name which I can give you. There is only one name for you to know, and that is, Bad Wolf!"

"But the Bad Wolf is just a legend!"

She nodded. "And so are the Time Lords in parts of the universe. But, here we all are! As a very good, wise, and wonderful man once told me," here, she indicated the Doctor, "all legends and fairy tales have within them at least an element of truth. Looks like there's more than just an element here." She smiled.

"How dare you address your Lord President in such a manner!"

"But that's just it. You're not my Lord President. You're not the President of the Time Lords, you're the President of Gallifrey. And I'm not from Gallifrey. I'm from Earth! You have no jurisdiction over me."

"So the legends of the Bad Wolf are true, then."

"That depends. I haven't heard the legend, I've just lived it. What do the legends say about me?"

"That you used to be human, but absorbed the entirety of the time vortex and became more powerful than time itself, being able to control life and death, and see all of time at once."

"That would be correct! Ooh!" She clapped. "Sticker for you! Such a good student!" She checked her pockets. "Seems I'm fresh out of stickers though, more's the pity. But let's see if you can earn more. When I had the entirety of the vortex running through my head, I could see everything that was, as well as everything that is and could be. I don't remember much, but I do remember seeing a certain council meet in a certain citadel and vote for a certain measure that would have had catastrophic consequences. Care to share with the rest of the class what that measure was?"

But before Rassilon could reply, the Doctor turned to the Master, begging him one more time to see reason. "You never saw what was born. But if the Timelock's broken, then everything's coming through. Not just the Daleks, but the Skaro Degradations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-have-been King with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-weres. The War turned into hell. And that's what you've opened, right above the Earth. Hell is descending."

The Master just grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "My kind of world."

"You _would_ think that," Rose retorted.

Again, the Doctor pleaded. "Just listen! Because even the Time Lords can't survive that. Answer her question, Rassilon!"

"We will initiate the Final Sanction. The end of time will come at my hand. The rupture will continue until it rips the Time Vortex apart."

Now the Master was beginning to see what Rose and the Doctor were saying. "That's suicide!"

"We will ascend to become creatures of consciousness alone. Free of these bodies, free of time, and cause and effect, while creation itself ceases to be."

"You see now?" the Doctor cried, turning to the Master. "That's what they were planning in the final days of the War. I had to stop them!" Rose heard the slightest catch in his voice at that last bit. She knew what stopping them had cost him. She instinctively reached out and grabbed his hand.

But no one noticed, because the Master had begun to plead for his own life. "Then, take me with you, Lord President. Let me ascend into glory!"

"You are diseased, albeit a disease of our own making. No more."

Rose couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You! How _dare_ you!" Before the Doctor could stop her, she had dropped his hand, marched up to the Lord President and delievered a cracking Tyler slap to his cheek. Rose Tyler was unleashed. "First, you implant a drum beat inside the head of a young boy, driving him to insanity and to do horrible things for your own gain. Then you decide that you are going to benefit from his suffering to bring your entire planet out of a time lock. Then you have the audacity to call the same boy that you poisoned, too diseased to benefit from what he helped you do! And all of this was done just so that you could destroy the very thing that your people have sworn for billions of years to protect! Who is the insane one, here, Rassilon?!"

But as terrifying as the rage of a Tyler was, the rage of the Lord President was much worse. He raised his gauntlet once more.

But before he could do anything, the Doctor stepped forward, weilding Wilf's gun and aiming it towards Rassilon. Rose gasped.

This gave the Lord President pause. "Oh, so it all makes sense now! The Almighty Doctor's got himself a girlfriend!" He grinned menacingly at the couple. :Choose your enemy well, Doctor. We are many. The Master is but one.";

The Master's cowardice shone brightly as he now begged the Doctor for his life. "But he's the President. Kill him, and Gallifrey could be yours!"

This was the wrong thing to say. The Doctor didn't want to rule Gallifrey. He'd been offered the Presidency before, around the time Romana was elected, but turned it down. He turned his gun on the Master.

Again, the Master begged. "He's to blame, not me." Then he understood. "Oh, the link is inside my head. Kill me, the link gets broken, they go back. You never would, you coward. Go on then. Do it.

"No!" Rose cried, a tear escaping down her cheek. The Doctor does not kill! She didn'lt want him to start now!

"Exactly. Listen to him." Rassilon taunted. "It's not just me, it's him. He's the link. Kill him!" The Doctor turned towards Rassilon again. "The final act of your life is murder. But which one of us?"

Rose touched the Doctor gently on his arm and indicated the diamond with her eyes. It was directly behind the Master. The Doctor got the message and turned toward the Master again. The Master looked at him pleadingly and with tears in his eyes.

"Get out of the way!" the Doctor barked. The Master moved, and the Doctor shot the diamond, destroying the link.

"The link is broken. Back into the Time War, Rassilon. Back into hell!" the Doctor yelled as the Lord President and his entourage began to fade away.

The President's last words were a warning: "You'll die with me, Doctor!" He readied his gauntlet.

"I know."

But the Master wasn't done yet. The Time Lords had ruined his life, and he was determined to have the last say. He began blasting them with his life force. "You did this to me! All of my life! You made me! One! Two! Three! Four! "

The Lord President was forced to his knees as he, the Master, and the other Time Lords vanished from sight and Gallifrey vanished from the sky. The people of Earth rejoiced.

The Doctor collapsed to his knees in relief. "I'm alive! I thought..." But whatever he was going to say was cut off by Rose crashing her lips into his with a desperate "I thought we were going to die" kiss.

Then they heard it. _Knock, knock, knock, knock._ Pause. _Knock, knock, knock, know._

They broke the kiss and looked at each other as the realization hit. They both then looked towards the source of the knocking. It was Wilf, trapped in that bloody glass case. Rose had completely forgotten about him. So had the Doctor. But the old man was anything but forgotten now. Radiation was building up in the chamber, and there was only one way for him to get out.

But the old man was innocent of the seriousness of the situation. "They gone, then? Yeah, good-o. If someone could let me out?"

The Doctor swallowed. "Yeah."

"Only, this thing seems to be making a bit of a noise."

Tears began streaming down Rose's face, even as the gears started turning in her head. She knew what her Doctor was going to do. There had to be another way!

But the Doctor seemed resolved, albeit a bit reluctant. "The Master left the Nuclear Bolt running. It's gone into overload."

"And that's bad, is it?"

"No, because all the excess radiation gets vented inside there. Vinvocci glass contains it. All five hundred thousand rads, about to flood that thing."

"Oh. Well, you'd better let me out, then."

"Except it's gone critical. Touch one control and it floods. Even this would set it off," he indicated his sonic screwdriver. Rose berated herself for not getting him out sooner. Of course, then she'd be the one trapped inside and knocking four times! She wasn't sure which option was better.

"I'm sorry."

"Sure." The Doctor wasn't mad at Wilf. It wasn't the old man's fault, not really. Just the universe screwing with him yet again.

But Wilf didn't want the Doctor to die in his place. He was an old man. He'd lived his life. "Look, just leave me."

"Okay, right then, I will. Because you had to go in there, didn't you? You had to go and get stuck, oh yes. Because that's who you are, Wilfred. You were always this. Waiting for me all this time." Rose was ready to go into the chamber herself, just to spare the Doctor this choice.

Wilf saw her approach and shook his head. No one was going to die for him. "No really, just leave me. I'm an old man, Doctor, Rose. I've had my time."

The Doctor shoved some papers off a nearby desk in frustration. "Well, exactly. Look at you. Not remotely important. But me? I could do so much more. So much more! But this is what I get. My reward. And it's not fair! Oh. Oh. I've lived too long."

"No. No, no, please, please don't. No, don't! Please don't! Please!"

"Wilfred, it's my honour. Better be quick. Three, two, one..." his hand was on the door when Rose's hand stopped him.

"You don't have to do this," she said, quietly.

"What, and I'm supposed to just let him die?"

"I didn't say that. I've been over here trying to figure out a plan B, and I think I've found one."

"You are _not_ doing this for me, Rose Tyler!"

"Not for you, with you!"

"Sorry?"

"If either one of us goes in there alone, we'll aborb the radiation and die. But if we go in there together, we both absorb 1/2 of the radiation, and there's a chance that it will not be enough to kill us."

"It could also kill us both!"

"That's a chance I'm willing to take."

"Why?"

"I can see time lines, Doctor. And right now, yours is at a convergence. You go in there alone, you will regenerate, and I can see your time line stretching far into the distance. We go in there together, and your time line continues, but the details are obscurred from my view. And you know what that means."

He nodded, realization dawning on his face. Obscurred time lines means that for Rose to see his future would be to see her own. He squinted at her time line, and saw the same things she did. They go in there together, they'll be together. He goes in alone, somehow he'll end up alone. "But the prophecy says that my song will end."

" _Your_ song ends, _our_ song begins!"

"But River..."

"Is a bridge we'll cross when we come to it. Together. You decide. And you have to do it quickly, because Wilf doesn't have much time!"

"This is really going to hurt, you know."

"I know. And I'm willing."

He nodded. His decision made, he took her hand. "Together, then?"

"Allons-y!" she replied, as hand in hand, they entered the chamber and saved Wilf's life.


	6. Chapter 5: Forever

**So, don't you just hate it when you start out a story going in one direction, and the characters stand up and demand that the story goes completely different? No? Just me? Ok. :)**

CHAPTER 5

The Doctor and Rose entered the glass booth and hit the button that released Wilf together. It hurt, a lot. Wilf rushed out as the couple collapsed to the floor in pain and crumpled into two balls. Eventually the pain subsided, and without speaking, they leaned on each other as they emerged.

"Well, there we are then," Wilf commented hopefully. "Safe and sound, though you both have a few battle scars there. Are you two going to be alright?"

"Yeah, we're alright..." Rose started.

"We're always alright," the Doctor finished for her. They shared a weak smile with each other.

"Come on, then, Wilf. Let's get you home." The Doctor started towards where he'd parked the TARDIS.

Rose turned to follow, but Wilf stopped her. "Seriously, are you going to be alright?"

"Dunno," came her reply. "I'm new to these things. We could both change. One of us could change. Neither of us could change." She shrugged. "But don't you worry about that, right now. No matter what happens, we will be alright. I promise you, Wilf. We will be alright. C'mon. Gotta get you back so you can walk Donna down the aisle, yeah?"

He took her arm like a proper gentleman as they walked towards the TARDIS. "How did you...?"

"Really, who else would she have asked to give her away?" she smiled at him, a genuine smile despite her pain.

The Doctor was leaning in the door jam, trying not to look like it was holding him up, even as Rose leaned on Wilf for support. Wilf was returned home, and they made a quick hop back in time to ask Geoffrey Noble for a tenner so they could purchase a lottery ticket for Donna's wedding present. Soon, the newly married couple would be billionaires, courtesy of the stuff of legends.

They were getting weaker and weaker. Rose made a quick call. "Bad Wolf to home base. Bad Wolf to home base."

"Rosie! You'd better have good news for me!" Jack's infectious smile could be heard even on the phone.

"Consider this to be my resignation, effective immediately."

"Good for you, Rosie! Sorry to see you go, but happy for you."

"Thanks."

Jack could hear the weakness in her voice. "You okay, Rosie?"

"'M fine. Just... next time you see me, I may not be, well, me."

"You regenerating?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"What about the Doc?"

"Him too."

"Oh, no. I'm so sorry to see you two go."

"It's ok. We're together now. 'S all that matters. Thank you, Jack. Bad Wolf out."

They also made a stop a little ways in the future to bonk a Sontaran on the back of the head and wave goodbye to Mickey and Martha. They still didn't know if this was goodbye or not, but it was clear that something was going to happen soon.

Together they limped back into the TARDIS and the Tenth Doctor sent the Old Girl into the vortex for perhaps the last time. They locked eyes with each other. This was it. Whatever was going to happen was going to take place now, whether they wanted it to, or not.

"Thank you," Rose said so quietly that the Doctor barely heard.

"For what?" His voice was equally soft.

"For choosing us!"

"But you're in pain, and it's all my fault!"

She limped over to him and cupped his face in her hands. "It's not your fault! I chose this! And I've no regrets. None!" She paused though, and looked into his eyes. "I am scared, though. What's gonna happen? Are we gonna regenerate?"

He wrapped his arms around her in a consoling manner and returned her gaze. "I don't think so. It would have started by now, I should think. I've been wrong before, though. We're not out of the woods, yet. We need to heal." He dropped his embrace and took her by the hand. "Rose Tyler, I do think it's time I've shown you the Zero room!"

Rose's strength was failing fast, and the Doctor's wasn't much better as they soon found themselves supporting each other. Luckily, the Zero Room wasn't far. They managed to open the door just in time before Rose, and then the Doctor, fell into a healing coma.

-DW-

Rose awoke some time later after having what felt like the most restful sleep she'd had in years! She rolled over to snooze a little longer and reached for the covers and grasped... nothing. She reached behind her head for her pillow and found... nothing. She then realized that she wasn't laying on anything, either. Was she... floating? She opened her eyes. Indeed she was floating, a good six feet off the tiled floor, too. The room she was in was empty and non-descript. It was circular in shape with bright, white walls and nothing marring their plainness except for a singular door. As she tried to make sense of this bizarre situation, she heard whoops and hollers coming from far above her. She squinted in the bright light. There was a shape moving above her. As it grew closer, she began to recognize the shape.

It was the Doctor. "Rose! You have got to try this! I'd forgotten how much fun the Zero Room can be! There's literally nothing here. Zero furniture, zero tools, zero corners, zero germs, which is why this was where we needed to be to heal, and the best part: zero gravity! Come on up! It's just like swimming!"

Laughing, Rose joined him. Together, they floated, soared, and did mid-air flips to their hearts' content.

"Why haven't you shown me this room earlier? This is incredible!" Rose mock scolded him. "Keeping secrets from me, Time Lord?"

"I'd forgotten about the fun aspects myself, Time Lady." He grinned at her. "This is supposed to be used as a place of recovery, but, I mean, come on. I can fly!"

"And you don't even need pixie dust!" Rose laughed. Then she sobered. "So are we going to be okay now? Is the danger past?"

He grew equally sober, though his smile still remained. "Yes, we're going to be just fine."

"And we're still... us? I mean, I can see that you're still you, but am I still me?"

"Other than the fact you sound like you should be in a mental hospital, talking like that, yeah, you're still you!"

"Hey!" She stuck out her tongue at him and shoved him playfully across the room. With no gravity to stop him, he went pretty far, but managed to catch himself before careening into a wall. She giggled. "Sorry bout that."

"You're not, but I forgive you anyway."

She giggled again. Then she had a thought. "Uh, Doctor? How do we get down?"

He laughed in response, grabbed her hand, pulled her down after him, and together, they walked out the door.

-DW-

They had been in their healing comas a little over a week, the Doctor having awakened only a few minutes before Rose. Needless to say, despite their "Superior Time Lord biology", they were famished. It was amazing to Rose just how easily they fell into their old morning routine, as if they had never been separated: the Doctor made banana pancakes, (Rose teased him that that was the only thing he could cook. He countered back that he could cook anything, but banana pancakes were a good source of potassium and were very tasty, so all other food was inferior, except for maybe jelly babies, though those don't have potassium, they're just tasty. Did I ever tell you, Rose, about the time I was attacked by a 10 foot tall jelly baby that was alive?), she set the table and made the toast and tea (maybe if you weren't always trying to make the toaster more sonic, Doctor, you wouldn't always burn the toast? Get your fingers out of that jam! At least use a spoon like a civilized person!), and they settled into a light-hearted conversation about various adventures that the Doctor had been on as they ate. It was nice, very nice, Rose reflected. She had not felt this at ease since, since... well, since before Canary Wharf, of course.

She wasn't the only one enjoying the comfortable atmosphere. The Doctor loved this! He wished moments like this would never end. But if a Time Lord knows one thing, it's this: time is fleeting. After awhile, he sobered. "So, where do we go from here, Rose?"

Rose blinked. Was the Doctor actually starting a conversation about their relationship? Well, this was a first! She smiled, "You actually want to discuss this? Alright, who are you, really, and what have you done with my commitment-phobic Doctor?"

"I'm not commitment-phobic! I'm... I'm just very guarded when expressing my feelings!"

"Mmmhmm. Whatever you say," she teased. She then grew serious. "Where do you want us to go from here?"

He grew silent for a moment before replying. "Does it really need saying?"

"Not always, my Doctor," Rose conceded. "But right now, yeah, kinda does. Don't forget that you were the one who brought this up."

"It's just that it's... complicated."

"Only if we let it be."

"Rose, I wish I could give you what you want. I wish I could give you a house and a bunch of kids and maybe a dog or a cat or two and the life that you deserve. But I can't. I'm over 900 years old, Rose, and I've been running all my lives. I don't know how to stop."

"But I don't want those things, Doctor! If I did, I wouldn't be here right now. I never would have tried so hard to get back to you. I would've just married Mickey and been done with it. And believe me, I could've, too - he asked! Probably shouldn't tell Martha that, though."

He had to smile at that. Still sensing his unease, though, she walked over to him and cupped his face in her hands. "Doctor, I never would have run away with you in the first place if I ever truly wanted that kind of life. All I want, all I'll ever want, is YOU!"

"I can't marry you, Rose, and you know why."

River. Of course. Would the bloody woman stop haunting them already? "True. But does that really preclude me fron staying with you forever?"

"No."

"Well, there ya go. That's settled then."

Both were silent for awhile as relief swept over them and they let the fact that they would never be apart again sink in. Finally, the Doctor spoke. "I would, you know."

"Would what?"

"You know."

"Marry me?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Well... if you ever asked, I'd say yes!"

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Well... we still could someday. After River is... you know."

Rose looked at him with wonder. Was he... blushing? "Are you proposing?"

"Yeah, I suppose I am. Yeah!"

"Gonna ask me properly, then?" she teased him again, purposefully sticking the tongue between her teeth because she knew he can't resist that grin.

She expected him to get down on one knee. What she didn't expect, however, was the gorgeous diamond ring he pulled out of his pocket. When and where did he get that?

"Rose Tyler, I have loved you practically since the moment we met. I know I've been a daft fool for just as long, but, if you can forgive an over 900 year old alien for his transgressions and put up with the probably countless more he will continue to make, I would be honoured and the happiest fool in the multi-verse if you would one day be my wife. Will you marry me?"

She shrieked with joy and crashed her lips into his, drinking him in. He kissed her back no less passionately, and soon they were a tangle of teeth, lips, and tongues as years of built up tension was finally released. Soon, even their respiratory bypass gave out, and they had to break for air. "That was a yes, by the way," she gasped, beaming at him.

"I sure hope so!" He said as he slipped the ring that he had bought on that asteroid the day before Canary Wharf on her finger. He didn't know how, but somehow, he would make their shared happy dream come true!

He just had to deal with River Song, first.


	7. Chapter 6: The Clock Strikes 11

**Thanks for all the favs and reviews! Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. It's been an insane week at work. Also sorry this is shorter than usual, but this seemed like a good place to stop.**

CHAPTER 6

The Doctor couldn't sleep. What had just happened? Did he just propose to Rose? What in the world was he thinking? He can't marry Rose! In fact, having her travel with him at all was just a really bad idea in general. How is he supposed to marry River now, if he's engaged to Rose? And why does he even need to marry River in the first place?! He began to toss and turn, before he felt the bed shift and remembered that he was not alone. Rose was in bed with him, and from the smile on her face, she was having sweet dreams indeed.

He hoped that it would remain so for her, but was doubtful. The longer he was awake, the more aware he became of an even greater matter: time was wrong and had been wrong for some time now. Realizing that Rose's new condition would make her sensitive to this fact, he placed his hands on her temples to block the ill effects from her mind. Then he slowly got to his feet, changed from his pyjamas into his customary brown pinstripes, and made his way to the consol room to think.

Time was very wrong indeed. He could feel the timelines warping around him, and the sensation made him physically ill. Indeed, he felt nauseous. Still, he was determined to learn what went wrong and when and where, so he scrutinized the time lines. What he discovered made him feel even more ill. Rose should not be a Time Lady, but should have remained human. She should have stayed behind at Bad Wolf Bay and had her forever with the metacrisis who should not have died. He, in turn, should have traveled the universe alone for a short while (well, that happened correctly, at least) before regenerating alone after Wilf knocked four times. This, he presumed, would have set him up nicely for the eventual marriage to River Song.

No wonder he felt ill! Everything about his life at the very moment was wrong! His mind screamed that something had to be done. The universe was very unhappy with the entire situation, and it was up to him to make it right. But for the first time in his 906 or so years (who really kept track of one's age after the first 5 or 6 or 7 centuries, especially in a time machine? Besides, was it really wrong to want to turn back the clock a couple of centuries?), his hearts disagreed with his mind. Rose, his Rose, was back, and she was going to be with him forever - not a human forever, but a real forever, for however many centuries or millennia he had left to live. How could something so very wrong feel so completely right?

His nausea worsened. No matter what his hearts said, time was wrong, and the universe was angry and had to be appeased. He looked at the list of what was wrong: Rose's species change and presence in his universe, the metacrisis's death, and he did not regenerate, much less alone. Well, the second fact couldn't be changed, and the first fact he refused to change - but the third, well, now that was fixable.

He had an idea, a horrible idea that he knew Rose would object to if she knew. But the universe had to be appeased! The idea was simple: kill himself now, and regenerate alone before Rose awoke. That would not fix everything, but perhaps the universe would recognize his sacrifice and allow for him and Rose to remain together. Yes, Rose would be furious, but if he explained to her that there was no other way, of course she would forgive him, right? It had to be so!

 _So that's it, then_ , he thought. _But how to do it?_ He had no idea. He chuckled at the irony. He remembered a time not all that long ago when right after the Time War, he was ready to end it all. Newly regenerated into his Ninth form, he hated himself so much that he couldn't stop listing ways that he could end his life. Finally, he threw dice to help him determine which path he would take. The number came up on 6: sacrifice himself in the throes of saving a planet from destruction. He scanned the universe and discovered that the Nestene Consciousness was threatening Earth in 2005. Soon, however, his plans of death were forgotten when he met a certain pink and yellow human and told her, "Run!" Funny, but he never once considered taking his own life ever since.

Until now. Oh, he hated even considering doing what he was about to do! Ranting at the universe, he cried, "I don't want to go!" before retching on the grated floor. The TARDIS, rather than get mad at him for the mess, simply groaned in sympathy before silently raising her panel and exposing her heart.

-DW-

He was aware of nothing, and yet everything, all at once. He could see time before, but never like this! He could see everything that was: he saw Rose looking into the heart of the TARDIS and choosing to become the Bad Wolf. He saw her seeing the battle of Canary Wharf and desperately wanting to change the outcome but finding it a fixed point in time. He saw her seeing their reunion and the creation of the meta crisis, and choosing to bind herself to his Time Lord self. He saw her choosing to become a Time Lady so they could have a real forever. _Oh, Rose! You manipulated time! You changed everything. You're the reason time is wrong! And you were unaware of what you were doing, you just didn't want me to be alone. Oh, my sweet Rose!_

He saw everything that is: he saw Rose sleeping fitfully in his bed as if she subconsciously knew something was wrong. He saw Donna yelling at her poor husband to take out the garbage and gazing longingly at the stars as if she's subconsciously missing them. He saw Mickey and Martha celebrating another successful day of defending the Earth with a bottle of wine. He saw Jack "dancing" with Ianto (and hoped he could forget it). A universe away, he saw Jackie telling the young Tony Tyler another bedtime story about his big sister, Rose, and her Doctor. _I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, everyone, for upsetting your lives and exposing you to this horrible life that I live._

He saw everything that could be: he saw him, a new him, exchanging wedding vows with Rose, who had never looked more lovely. Then he saw her pregnant with his child, and decided that she looked lovelier still. He saw River Song, and suddenly, he understood. He smiled with the new knowledge that he'd gained, and with a flick of his wrist, he, too, manipulated time so it would conform to his will.

-DW-

Rose awoke in a cold sweat. She could hear singing, the sound of which she hadn't heard in years. In fact, it sounded like... but it couldn't be! She rolled over to tell the Doctor, but found his side of the bed empty. Now properly afraid, she sprang to her feet and arrived in the consol room just as the heart of the TARDIS closed. And there, lying on the grating, was the unconscious form of the Doctor.

She ran to him, and rolled him onto his back as his skin began to glow. Regeneration. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stood to give him room. Why had he done it? Why did he look into the heart of the TARDIS? She realized that she may never know as the love of her life burst into a golden explosion of time energy.

This regeneration was much more violent than the last one she'd witnessed. She had to take shelter under the grating to avoid being hit by falling debris. Soon, however, it was over, and just as before, a stranger now stood next to the consol wearing her Doctor's clothes.

He looked younger than his previous two incarnations, and Rose briefly thought that if this trend kept up, his next regeneration would be barely more than a child! He had a mop of brown hair that dangled in front, and green eyes instead of brown or blue. It was his chin, however, that really made an impression. Rose was relieved that he was, at least, awake.

"Legs! I've still got legs!" He shouted, kissing his new knees. "Let's see, hands, feet, head, face, nose, I've had worse, chin, blimey! Hair, ooh! Ah! I'm a girl!" Rose almost guffawed at that. He clearly was not a girl.

His new hands found his new Adams Apple. "No. I'm not a girl!" He pulled his longish locks in front of his face. "And still not ginger!"

The new new new Doctor was so... adorable, that Rose forgot to be mad at him for regenerating the way he did. Really, he reminded her of a clumsy puppy. Probably best not to tell him that, though. She smiled to herself at the thought.

"Um, Doctor?"

He spun around to face her, but spun a bit too far and ended up falling rather ungracefully on his bum. Yes, definitely a clumsy puppy. "Rose? What are you doing up?"

"I heard the song of the TARDIS and came in to save you, but I was too late." She slapped him. "What'd ya go and do something stupid like that, for, hmm? Do ya have a death wish? Blimey, Doctor, give me a hearts attack why don't ya?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but at that same instant, the TARDIS began to shake and fall out of the vortex. "Hang on. I believe we're crashing. Geronimo!"

"What?!" Rose spluttered at the new catchphrase. Oh, that had better not catch on! Still, she hung on for dear life as they crash landed in the garden of one young Amelia Pond.


	8. Chapter 7: A Different Eleventh Hour

**Wow! Two updates back to back! Don't get too excited, though. No promises of how often this will happen. :) By the way, don't forget to review! I like to know what you think!**

CHAPTER 7

 _Twelve years later..._

The Doctor stumbled out of the TARDIS and blinked in the bright morning light. _So, it's been more than 5 minutes then. Rose is gonna kill me!_

"Rose! Amelia, I worked out what it was. I know what I was missing! You've got to get out of there!" he called as he ran into the house. "Rose? Amelia? Are you all right? Are you there?Prisoner Zero's here. Prisoner Zero is here! Prisoner Zero is here! Do you understand me? Prisoner Zero is..." He was cut off mid sentence as something whacked him in the back of the head.

When he came to, he found an angry ginger woman speaking into a radio. "White male, mid twenties, breaking and entering. Send me some back-up. I've got him restrained." He tried to get up, but she pushed him down. Not that she needed to, since he was handcuffed to a radiator. "Oi! You, sit still!"

The Doctor was confused as to what was happening at first, but then heard familiar footsteps running up the stairs. It was Rose.

"Blimey, Amy! Giving me a hearts attack!" Then she saw the Doctor. Her eyes flashed a myriad of emotions: relief, anger, joy, anguish, love, and amusement. It was the latter of these emotions that she chose to express first. "You've handcuffed him to the radiator?" She laughed.

"Cricket bat. I'm getting cricket bat." The Doctor gestured to the bump on his head.

But Amy didn't find this amusing in the least. "You were breaking and entering."

"Well, that's much better. Brand new me. Whack on the head, just what I needed."

Rose looked at him again, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to slap him or snog him senseless. Unfortunately for the Doctor, the slap won.

"Oi! Rose! I'm already injured here!"

"Yeah, and you deserve a lot more where that came from!"

Amy looked back and forth between the two. "Wait, Rose, you know him?"

"Course I do. He's the Doctor. And it's a shame he only just regenerated, because he's about to do it again!" Rose lunged forward for another slap.

"Wait, Rose." Amy said, holding her back. "Wait until my backup gets here."

"Backup?" Rose inquired. Then she noticed Amy's attire and caught on. "Oh! I gotcha!" She winked.

But the Doctor did not catch on. "Hang on, no, wait. You're a policewoman."

"And you're breaking and entering. You see how this works?"

"But what are you doing here? Where's Amelia?"

"Amelia Pond?"

"Yeah, Amelia. Little Scottish girl. Where is she? I promised her five minutes but the engines were phasing. I suppose I must have gone a bit far. Has something happened to her?"

Rose interrupted their conversation. "A bit? A bit far? Ya think?! Doctor, it's been twelve years!"

"Oops?" came his sheepish reply.

"Oops?! That's all you can say? Oops?!" Anger was clearly Rose's dominant emotion now. She pushed Amy forward. "Here's Amelia Pond!"

"I actually go by Amy, now," she said, curtly.

"You're Amelia? Well, look at you, all grown up and gorgeous! And a policewoman, too. I'm impressed!"

"Actually," the ginger said, twirling her hair a bit as if embarrassed, "I'm... I'm a kiss-o-gram."

"A what?"

"You know, I dress up in costumes, go to parties, and... I kiss people!"

"Ok..." the Doctor shook his head in confusion. "Now about that Prisoner Zero..."

"Oh, I took care of that ages ago!" Rose snapped. "You're welcome, by the way!"

"Um... thanks! I mean... of course you did! You're brilliant, you are!" He gulped, looking at Rose whose arms were crossed, and she glared at him. For crying out loud, there isn't anything more terrifying in any universe then an angry Tyler woman. This body was barely an hour old, and he'd already been slapped twice! Not to mention walking into a tree when he first landed, and the old cricket bat to the skull maneuver Amy pulled. This incarnation already seemed to have the worst luck!

"So... trouble averted, who would like a ride in space and time?" Both women glared at him. But finally, Rose's eyes softened. She just couldn't stay mad at him very long! Plus, the way his eyes were pleading with her to forgive him, how could she resist?

"Okay," she sighed. "Let's go."

"But, wait! You can't just go, Rose!" Amy pleaded. "You're all I have!"

"How about you come with us, then?" the Doctor asked.

The ginger's eyes widened with delight. "Really?"

"Sure!" Rose smiled. "We'd love to have you!"

"But what about your job with UNIT?"

"The Brigadier knows the Doctor and will understand if I just up and leave without notice," Rose replied, punching a number into her mobile.

"You work for UNIT? You know the Brigadier?! How is the old chap?" the Doctor said, impressed, as he put his key in the TARDIS lock. But it wouldn't turn. "No, no, no, no! Don't do that, not now! It's still rebuilding. Not letting us in."

"What?" Amy asked.

"He kind of destroyed the main consol room when he regenerated, and the TARDIS is reparing herself," Rose said, matter-of-factly as she hung up her mobile and sighed. "Looks like we're gonna be here a bit longer, then." She looked over at Amy. "Don't you have a date with Rory, soon?"

"Yeah, I guess I'll go, then," Amy said, clearly disappointed, before she walked back into her house to get changed.

The Doctor and Rose were then left alone, and an awkward silence descended on the couple. "So..." the Doctor started.

But Rose was faster. "Twelve years, Doctor! Twelve years! How could you possibly have screwed up so fantastically?"

"I... well, I just regenerated, and the TARDIS was damaged, and..."

"Yeah, and about that. Why? Why did you regenerate? You propose, we have a fantastic night together, and then you decide to see what being Bad Wolf was like? What were you thinking?!"

"Time, Rose. Time was wrong! Everything was wrong! You shouldn't be in this universe, the metacrisis should have lived and become your husband, and I should've regenerated alone! I had to do something to fix it. Regeneration was the only option!"

"You never thought to consult me?! I thought we were a team, Doctor! You know, Shiver and Shake?! Why didn't you talk to me? I thought you trusted me, Doctor, but now I see the truth. I may be a Time Lady now, but to you, I will always be a stupid ape!"

"Rose, you know that's not true!"

"Do I?! All I know is that one second, the love of my life confesses that he loves me, too, and wants to spend forever with me. Then the next, he's sneaking off to the consol room to become a completely different person, and before I can process that, he leaves me behind for twelve years!" She started crying then, and her voice grew soft. "I kept up a strong front for Amy's sake, but... I really thought you'd left me!"

"Rose! Oh, Rose!" he said softly, as he took her in his arms. "Didn't I tell you that I'd never leave you behind?"

"Yeah, sure. Last you. And the one before that never gave me any doubts of his feelings in that regard. But this you... I thought... you forgot about me or didn't want me anymore!"

"Rose. I could never forget about you. I will always want you."

"But I couldn't be sure about that. I mean, the last two yous had an obsession with bananas, and you didn't even request one when you were rudely making Amelia cook for you. Instead, you request fish fingers and custard of all things! I thought, if you could forget about bananas, why not me?"

"Rose, you should know by now that you mean so much more to me than bananas. Bananas are good, though they're no longer my favorite, and they do provide potassium. But you are so much more than that! Rose, I liked bananas, a lot. But I love you! Don't you see?"

"I do now!" She sniffed, and buried her face into his jacket. His pinstriped jacket. His pinstriped jacket that had definitely seen better days. Oh well, at least his Janis Joplin coat was safe. "You know, you might want to get a change of clothes."

"Of course, of course," he beamed at her. "But, there is another matter that is more pressing at the moment," he said before crashing his lips into hers. His lips felt different, but he tasted the same. Behind the taste of fish custard was the taste of something much more lasting: he tasted of cinnamon and time. He tasted like her Doctor.

They were interrupted by the ringing of Rose's mobile. She answered. "Tyler." She paused. "Yes, sir... well, no sir, of course not... actually, I might swing by the office in a little bit, there's someone here who'd love to see you... alright then, ta!" She hung up the mobile. "Fancy a trip to UNIT?"

"Was that the Brigadier?" She nodded. "Well, then. What are we waiting for? Geronimo!"

She rolled her eyes. Guess that was here to stay.

-DW-

"Brigadier Alistair Gordon Leftbridge Stewart, how good it is to see you again!" the Doctor grinned, pumping the old man's hand up and down.

"Indeed, Doctor. Though I must say that this is quite a reversal. Last time we met, you were an old man, and I was young. Now I'm the old man, and you have somehow turned back the clock. Couldn't we all be so lucky?"

"Still putting UNIT through its paces, I see?" The men began to move down the hall, taking their conversation with them. Rose followed quietly behind.

"Actually, I'm going to retire, soon," the Brigadier replied. "Tomorrow, actually. My daughter, Kate, assumes my position as head of UNIT on Monday."

"Keeping it all in the family, then? I'm surprised I didn't see you when I popped by to visit a couple of years back. We were dealing with a Sontaran situation."

"Ah, yes. I was on vacation then. Bermuda. Heard you got involved. Thanks."

"You're welcome! So, old chap, got anything interesting for me? I'm kind of locked out of my TARDIS at the moment and I'm looking for something to do."

"At the moment, it's quiet. Sure could have used you last week, though. Ever hear of the 456?"

The Doctor winced. The 456 were known throughout the universe for their brutality to children. "Not a pleasant bunch. How'd you get rid of them, then?"

"We didn't. But that small band of folks who calls themselves Torchwood sorted it out. Tyler, here, was our liaison, working for both agencies at once."

The Doctor beamed over at Rose. Of course she was! His Rose is brilliant! She blushed and smiled softly in response to his gaze.

"I really wish you'd just let us keep her, but I know that there's really no incentive for her to stay. Just remember that you are both on our payroll!" The tour complete, the Brigadier shook hands with the Doctor and Rose, and the couple were on their merry way.

But not before the Doctor slipped into a closet and came out with his arms loaded down with clothes. "Stealing clothes?" Rose inquired, eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, consider it back pay for all the wages UNIT owes me. I'm gonna change. You can look away if you like."

"Why would I do that?" Rose replied cheekily as she admired his new form. Slightly taller than he was before, it seemed that he was all limbs, but to Rose's extreme satisfaction, he still had a very nice bum! Feeling cheeky, she walked over and gave it a pinch, making him jump.

"Rose Tyler! You naughty thing, you!" he exclaimed as he put the finishing touches on his new attire: a tweed jacket and a bowtie.

"Love the bowtie!" Rose grinned.

"Course you do," he said, straightening it. "Bow ties are cool!" Rose laughed. Her new Doctor was certainly different, but she was amazed at how quickly she fell in love with him like the others.

"Fancy some chips?" Rose inquired as they strolled hand-in-hand through the streets of London before catching a bus back to Leadworth.

"You buying?"

"What? Did you forget a wallet again? Typical. Come on cheap skate." With that, she grabbed his hand a led him off to the nearest Chippy.

-DW-

When they returned to Leadworth, the Doctor felt something warm in his pocket. It was the TARDIS key. "Rose!" He whispered to her eagerly, showing her the glowing key. Rose gasped and found that her key was glowing as well. "She's ready!"

They ran to the TARDIS. "Okay, what have you got for us this time?" They opened the door and gasped. "Look at you. Oh, you sexy thing! Look at you."

Amy had told her boyfriend, Rory, that her Doctor from her childhood had returned, and they raced out to see the blue box just as it vanished.

"How about you let me drive for the return trip? Can't have you landing 12 years late, again, can we?" Rose grinned up at him cheekily in his embrace. They were on the moon, admiring the view of what Rose would always consider to be the most beautiful planet.

"It would be my honour, Rose."

-DW-

Rose materialized the TARDIS in Amy's backyard like a pro. Amy ran out to meet them. The Doctor smiled at her. "Sorry we ran off earlier. Brand new Tardis. Bit exciting. Just had a quick hop to the moon and back to run her in. She's ready for the big stuff now."

"It's you. Both of you! You came back," Amy replied.

"Course we came back," Rose replied, gleefully.

"We always come back. Something wrong with that?" The Doctor inquired.

"Are you from another planet?" Amy questioned back.

"He is, but technically I'm not," Rose smiled.

"Okay..."

"So what do you think?" The Doctor asked.

"Of what?"

"Other planets. Want to check some out?"

Amy looked at Rose. "What does that mean?"

Rose answered. "It means. Well, it means come with us."

"Where?"

"Wherever you like!" The duo answered in unison.

"But, all that stuff that happened. You returning and all... That was two years ago."

"Oh! Oops." Rose blushed. The Doctor just shook his head.


	9. Chapter 8: Demons Inside and Beast Below

**Thanks again for the reviews! Sorry that this chapter was so long in coming! I have the ending all planned out in my head in great detail, just the details of how we're arriving there was wonky. I think I have it figured out now. Enjoy!**

CHAPTER 8

Amy was an inquisitive new companion. She had many questions the first night: "How is it bigger on the inside? What is a police call box? Why can't it just say 'time machine', or is that too prentious? Do you ever have to change the lightbulb on the roof? What about the windows on the outside, they have to go somewhere, right? Is it a cry for help, the bowtie?"

This last question was directed solely to the Doctor, who just shrugged, straightened the apparently offensive accessory, and said, "Bowties are cool!"

Rose snorted and rolled her eyes, suppressing a giggle. Amy certainly was a talker. Rose remembered having questions her first night on the TARDIS, but she didn't remember asking so many at once, and she certainly did not criticize the Doctor's fashion sense. But then again, her first Doctor wore leather, and Rose couldn't find fault with that. Quite the contrary, actually. In fact, she found him rather...

"Still with us, Rose?" the Doctor's voice cut through her reverie. She felt her face flush. "Um... Yes. Definitely yes!"

"Do you have any idea of what I was saying?"

"Umm... bowties are cool?"

He sighed. "I was asking if you ladies would like to go and check out the future?"

"Sure! Sounds fantastic!" She internally kicked herself for using that word in particular, but if the Doctor picked up on it, he didn't say anything.

What had come over her, daydreaming about her first Doctor like that? Especially since her second Doctor was also very attractive. And when she said he was attractive, what she really meant was that he was drop dead...

"Rose!" The Doctor waved his hand in front of her face.

"Yeah?" There was that blush again.

"You coming? Pond's seeing space for the first time, and you're missing it!"

"Uh... yeah," she replied as she watched him walk to the TARDIS doors. She let her eyes wander south a bit. Yes, this new Doctor would do _quite_ nicely!

The Doctor pulled Amy back inside. "Now do you believe us?"

"Okay, your box is a spaceship. It's really, really a spaceship. We are in space! What are we breathing?"

"I've extended the air shell. We're fine," came the reply.

"What's that?" Rose asked, pointing to a large spaceship that rather resembled a floating city.

"Now that's interesting. Twenty ninth century. Solar flares roast the earth," the Doctor started.

Rose grinned at him. "Hey, that was our first date!"

Amy looked at her skeptically. "How... romantic."

"It was," Rose sighed dreamily for effect. "We had chips, and I had to pay for everything because someone doesn't carry any money!"

"You're joshing me!" Amy replied, a grin creeping across her face.

"True story!" Rose grinned.

"Actually, Rose, that was in the year 5 billion when the sun expanded and Earth was destroyed."

"Wait, your first date really was to watch the world end?" Amy wasn't yet used to this life.

"Well, we did have chips!" the Doctor replied, defensively.

"Yeah, which I bought!" Rose teased back.

" _Anyway_..." the Doctor's grin gave away that he wasn't really as annoyed as he sounded. "The entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves. Whole nations. Migrating to the stars. Isn't that amazing?"

He ran back inside in his excitement and didn't realize that the TARDIS doors had shut, trapping the two women outside. He heard them calling and knocking, however, and opened the door again. Amy just gaped at him. Rose folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow as if to say, _did you really just do that?_

"Well, come on. I've found us a spaceship."

" _You_ found _us_ a spaceship?" Rose replied incredulously.

But he ignored her and rambled on. "This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. All of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal. That's not just a ship, that's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing and shopping. Searching the stars for a new home."

Amy was excited. A real adventure at last! "Can we go out and see?"

"Course we can. But first, there's a thing."

"A thing?"

 _This oughta be_ _good,_ Rose thought.

"An important thing. In fact, Thing One. We are observers only. That's the one rule I've always stuck to in all my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets."

Rose suddenly started laughing so hard that she nearly fell out the open door of the TARDIS!

-DW-

"It's a spaceship, Rose! Let her have some fun! What's the worst that could happen?" the Doctor glibly responded to Rose's concerns about Amy wandering off.

She rounded on him. "What's the worst that could happen? Uh, let's see here a minute. Maybe a bitchy trampoline will take over as her planet blows up. Failing that, there could be a Jagrafess upstairs. Or Daleks. Or clockwork robots after our organs. Or _France_ (the way she said "France" with such disgust reminded the Doctor that he was still not forgiven for how he acted around Madame de Pompadour)! Or..."

"Okay, okay," the Doctor interrupted her litany. "I suppose that a few nasty things have been known to happen on spaceships, but that doesn't mean that that's going to happen here! Besides, you're just jeopardy friendly!"

"Oi! And have you ever set foot on a spaceship and not found trouble?" she teased.

He knew she was just teasing, but still his mind wandered: getting possessed by a sun, getting turned into an old man by the Master, running from Vashta Nervada in the Library (though that was techincally a planet), and creepy creatures made from water on Mars (okay, that was a planet as well) - and that was just since he'd lost Rose at Canary Wharf! He didn't like being reminded of those times, the last two, especially. Though it was the Mars incident that still haunted him. He'd very nearly become a monster himself. This was why he was so eager for Amy to go and explore: he needed to talk to Rose.

"Rose, there's something I need to tell you..." he started, but was quickly interrupted by Rose who told him to shush as she grabbed a glass of water off of a nearby table and set it on the ground.

His eyes widened as he saw what she was getting at. Count on Rose to notice the details that he'd missed. Soon the Time Lord Victorious was all but forgotten as a mystery lay before them. How was the ship moving if it had no engines? He scratched his head in puzzlement before looking up and noticing that Rose was no longer at his side. She had run to the assistance of a young girl who was crying - silently. Torn between bafflement and pride for the woman he loved, he briefly wondered if this new him was a bit daft. Rose was starting to be a better Doctor than he was, and this, this would just not do!

-DW-

Amy proved to be the hero of the day. She'd made a very risky decision that could have killed everyone on board the ship, but instead saved them all as well as the life of the Starwhale who was carrying the ship on his back. When asked why she did it, she'd just shrugged and said that the Starwhale reminded her of someone else who was very, very, old and very, very, kind. Rose had smiled softly to herself. She couldn't have said it better herself.

Later, as Amy slept soundlessly in her new room, the last Time Lord and his Lady sat side by side under the new console, marveling at her beauty. Or at least Rose was. The Doctor was marveling at beauty of a completely different sort. Twelve years may have gone by for her, but Rose Tyler was newly blessed with the Time Lord aging process, and as such looked just as lovely at 37 as she had at 25, or even 19 for that matter. Rose had lived almost as many years since meeting the Doctor as she had before she'd met him, but they had really only been together for the first two of them. His hearts broke at the time they'd lost, and he wished again more than anything that he could fix it.

Rose seemed to sense his thoughts and turned her gaze away from the TARDIS's underbelly to gaze at him instead. "What are you thinking?"

"Oh, Rose. I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For... everything. I can be a right git at times."

"Yeah, not arguing with that," she grinned, her tongue poking through her teeth in the way that makes his knees go weak.

"But you do know that I love you, right? And I would never intentionally hurt you, right?"

"Yes, my Doctor. I do know that. But... you do seem to make a habit of unintentionally hurting me." She sighed.

"And yet, you're still here. I'd have left me a long time ago. And I certainly wouldn't do everything that you have to get back to me. Why are you still here?"

"Do I really need a reason besides I love you, you daft alien?"

He grinned. "You know, you technically can't call me that anymore."

"Says who? Is an alien someone who is a different species or from a different place? It'd have to be a place, right? Humans share their planet with animals of all kinds, but you never hear them call, say, a dog, an alien, right? Dogs and humans aren't the same species. (Though, I've heard it said that some men are dogs... but lets not go there right now.) I'm still from Earth. You're still from Gallifrey. Ergo... alien!"

He laughed at that. "Okay. You win." But then he sobered. "But, Rose. I've got something to tell you that you're not going to like."

"You're _not_ sending me away again!"

He blinked at her. "What?"

"You're about to remind me that River Song is not yet sorted out and that keeping me round will hinder your future wedded bliss, yeah?"

"Oh.. _that._ That's sorted. I don't remember anything, but I know that when I looked into the TARDIS's heart that I learned something about her that means everything's gonna be ok, and she is no longer an issue."

"What?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, so... yay?"

She blinked at him.

"So... there's something else I need to tell you that's more important."

-DW-

Rose laid alone in her own bed that night, staring at the ceiling. She wasn't going to sleep. But she did have to think. The Doctor had played loose with the laws of time while on Mars and nearly destroyed the universe. The reason: she wasn't there to stop him. Time Lord Victorious, he'd called himself. She shuddered. She wondered how she could so easily forget that he could be a dangerous man. And what's this about River? He looked into the heart of the TARDIS, and they don't have to worry anymore? Rose felt something settle like lead into the pit of her stomach. Something didn't feel right. It didn't feel right at all. Suddenly, she knew what she needed to do. She had to talk to Jack. She pushed a couple of buttons on her borrowed vortex manipulator, and was gone.


	10. Chapter 9: Crossing Timelines

CHAPTER 9

As soon as she dematerialized, she realized three things: 1. She really should have left the Doctor a note so he wouldn't worry about her and know where to find her, 2. She really had no idea why she suddenly felt this urge to go and visit Jack, and 3. Using a vortex manipulator while already in the time vortex was probably a really bad idea. In fact, she ruefully mused as she was suddenly overcome with vertigo and nausea, that should probably be number 1. After being tossed about like clothes in a dryer for what seemed like forever, the vortex finally spit her out and she rolled onto what felt like a concrete floor. She stood up, a little wobbly on her feet and her stomach threatening to empty its contents, and surveyed her surroundings.

The room was dark and damp. It appeared to be an underground bunker of some sort. As her stomach settled and her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she was able to make out two bunks against the wall with unmade beds, and two simple metal desks with uncomfortable looking chairs against the opposite wall. Two simple chests of drawers lined up on the wall across from the solitary door from which a tiny sliver of light spilled from underneath. That was it. She surmised that she was underground somewhere because the space was void of any windows. Perhaps she was in the Torchwood Hub? But this didn't look like any room she had ever seen before, and she knew that Torchwood base inside and out, and in two different universes for that matter. This was not the Hub. So, where was she? When was she, for that matter?

She closed her eyes for a minute and allowed her time sense to kick in. She still wasn't used to her enhanced abilities and wondered if they would ever feel natural to her. She was on Earth (well, that was good at least), London (even better), and the year was... 1940 (okay, that's not good). She racked her brain. London 1940, London 1940, London 1940. This was significant somehow. Then it hit her: the Blitz! She'd landed in London in the middle of the bloody London Blitz! Almost as confirmation, the room she was in was rocked as a large explosion sounded overhead. She was knocked off of her feet.

As she struggled to get to her feet again, her time sense provided more details. The specific date was 3 October 1940, approximately one month into the Blitz, and even more significant, this was the same day that she and the Doctor landed in London, met Jack, and saved the world from confused Nanogenes. _So, I have left the Doctor behind for reasons I don't fully understand,_ Rose berated herself. _Now not only do I have to avoid having a bomb land on me, I have to avoid contact with a creepy child who wants his Mummy, and avoid running into a younger Doctor, Jack, and myself, so that timelines aren't skewed. Rose Tyler, you have officially taken being jeopardy friendly to an completely new level. Oh yeah, and I have no idea how I'm going to get back because this manipulator doesn't travel to a spot inside the vortex. As the Doctor I need to avoid was fond of saying, "Fantastic!"_

Realizing that she wasn't going to get anywhere if she didn't get out of this room, she took a deep breath, opened the door and...

"Well hello there, beautiful! Where'd you come from? Hello! Captain Jack Harkness." He held out his hand in greeting, face beaming with his trademark gorgeous smile.

 _Bollox._

-DW-

The Doctor was in a state of panic. "Rose? _Rose_? Ro-ose! ROSE! Oh, come on now, this is no time for hide and seek!" He ran around his beautiful ship, randomly opening doors and slamming them shut again when he found them empty. He had already checked her usual haunts: her room, his room, the kitchen, the library, the telly room, the pool (that was oddly enough inside the library), the wardrobe room, and the loo. He then checked the more unlikely places: the racquet ball courts, the sauna, the flower garden, the gazebo, the tennis courts, the zero room, and he even checked medbay. All were void of his pink and yellow former human. Which is why he was suddenly looking in every single room on his ship randomly, his breathless new companion following behind.

"Doctor, this is a huge ship. I'm sure she's somewhere around here. Just calm down, Raggedy Man!" Amy tried to console him, but to no avail.

"She's gone, Amy. She's gone! Don't you see?" He turned to her, desperation, despair, dejection, and a few other good "D" words as well, painted clearly on his face for all to see. "I trusted her enough to tell her something horrible that I'd done so that I could ask for her forgiveness, and now she's left me!"

"Oh, I'm sure it's not that," Amy tried to calm him down. "Trust me, Doctor, I lived with her for twelve years, and she never gave up on you. That woman loves you! She'd do anything for you! I'm sure that it would take more than an admission of a little mistake to chase her away."

"But this wasn't a little mistake, Amy!" he sniffed. "This mistake could have destroyed the universe! And the only reason it didn't was because a woman committed suicide!"

Amy's eyes grew big as saucers, but she made no comment. "Still, that woman is mad about you! She'd never just leave you high and dry without good reason!"

"This was good reason, Amy. I'm dangerous. You should probably leave me, too."

"Not a chance, Raggedy Man," she smiled. "Okay. Let's say that she has left the TARDIS. Surely you have a way to find her?"

His face lit up. "Her ring!"

"Her ring?"

"Yes, her engagement ring!" He began to dance around the consol, pulling levers and twisting knobs. "I never got a chance to tell her, but the stone is not just an ordinary stone. It's Gallifreyan, from my planet. There's not much left of my planet in the universe: just the TARDIS and me, and that ring. I can trace the ring!" Suddenly, though, he stopped, his face sober. "But suppose that she doesn't want me to find her?"

Amy was flabbergasted and threw up her arms in despair. "DOCTOR!"

"Right. Alright. She did leave the TARDIS while in flight. Perhaps she was captured. It's happened to her before. This is not a usual thing to happen, mind you, but if it was going to happen to anyone, it would be her. She is the most jeopardy friendly person I have ever met!"

"So, she could be in trouble?"

"Hang on, Rose, I'm coming!"

-DW-

Rose thought quickly and came up with an alias: Jane Doe. _Really? Jane Doe? That was the best I could do? Oh, he'll see through that one all right. I'll never make fun of the Doctor calling himself "John Smith" ever again._

The young captain just chuckled and shook his head. "Well, Ms. Doe, care to explain how you ended up in the men's dormitory? And why a beautiful woman such as yourself has to have such a horrible alias?"

Might as well tell him the truth, she decided. There was no deceiving Jack. She raised her hand and showed him the vortex manipulator. "Got the coordinates wrong. Was supposed to land about 65 years in the future from here. It's been acting wonky. And as for the alias, I'm from your future, and you haven't met me yet, and this little meeting could have disastrous consequences on the space and time continuum, so it might be best to get out of my way, let me go, and forget this entire conversation!"

Jack scratched his head. "Okay... that's a new one... okay. Hey, where'd you get that manipulator, anyway? It looks like mine!"

"Spoilers!" Rose just put one finger to her lips and ran out the door.

 _That was a close one,_ she thought. But just when she thought that she had made it through unscathed, she felt a new memory wash over her. Not a new memory, exactly, but an altered one.

-DW-

Young Rose Tyler was dangling from a barrage balloon, when suddenly a large white tractor beam came out of nowhere and a man's voice said, "Nice to see you again Ms. Doe! I knew you just couldn't keep away from me. Now, if you could just turn off your cellphone, we'll get you to safety."

Bewildered, she did as she asked. She landed in his arms with great applomb. Blimey, but he was gorgeous! "Hello," she said.

"Hello," he beamed.

"Hello, wait, I've said that already, haven't I?"

"Blimey, you're looking at me like you've never seen me before, Ms. Doe! And here, we just spoke not five minutes ago!"

"Sorry?"

He took in her younger looking face, the Union Jack t-shirt, and the distinct absence of a vortex manipulator on her wrist, and suddenly, he understood.

"Uh, never mind. Hello. Captain Jack Harkness!" he beamed.

Somewhere across town, an older Rose Tyler breathed a sigh of relief.

-DW-

The TARDIS materialized inside a cupboard. The Doctor and Amy emerged to find several guns pointed at them. "Doctor, is it you?" The guards stepped aside to reveal none other than Winston Churchill, Prime Minister.

"Indeed it is, old friend! Amy, Winston Churchill. Winston, Amelia Pond."

The Prime Minister just looked pointedly at the Time Lord and held out his hand.

"What's he after?" Amy asked.

"TARDIS key, of course" the Doctor replied.

"Think of what I could achieve with your remarkable machine, Doctor. The lives that could be saved."

"Ah, doesn't work like that."

"Must I take it by force?"

"I'd like to see you try!"

The friendly banter carried on as the trio ascended in a lift to the roof of the building.

"Listen, old friend, it's not that I don't want to catch up, but I'm actually busy trying to mount a rescue right now. You haven't seen a blonde woman walk through here recently, have you?" the Doctor doubted he had, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"Nope, no women here other than your lovely ginger friend, but if you're mounting a rescue, how about saving my country from the Germans? For a little more than a month, this great city has been bombarded night and day."

Amy stared at the skyline in front of her and took in the barrage balloons. "Doctor, it's..." she started.

"History," he finished for her as a bomb exploded in the distance.

They were introduced to a Dr. Edwin Bracewell, who was working on a Top Secret ironsides project. On his command, a beam of light came out of nowhere and struck down the Nazi plane.

"But..." the Doctor stammered. "That wasn't human. That was never human technology. That sounded like. Show me. Show me. Show me what that was!"

"It's our new secret weapon!" Churchill crowed.

But the Doctor stared in horror as out from the emplacement rolled a Dalek. Rose was momentarily all but forgotten.

-DW-

Rose was running through the streets of London. That had been a close call with Jack. She had to get out of town and quickly, too! Then she heard it, "Mummy, are you my Mummy?"

Chills ran up her spine as she turned around. There in front of her was a child in a gas mask. _What was his name again? Think, think, think!_ Then it came to her. "Jamie! Jamie, is it? No, sweetheart, I am not your Mummy, but I know who is."

"Where is she? Where's my Mummy?" She had forgotten just how creepy this kid was. But she took a deep breath and reminded herself that the kid was really quite harmless as long as he didn't touch you, and when the Doctor cracked the puzzle, everything would be alright anyway, even if he did. Everybody lives!

Then she remembered how in the end, the Nanogenes went airborne. She turned and ran. "Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!" the child called after her. She didn't pay any attention to where she went, but just kept running, her head turned to look behind her to make sure the child wasn't following. She kept this up until with an "oof!" she ran into something solid and made of leather.

"Rose! There you are! What is it that I've told you about wandering off?"

 _Bollox again._


	11. Chapter 10: Diffusion

**Sorry for the delay, all. RL has been kicking my butt, and I also had a major writer's block. Anyway, here's the next installment. I hope that you enjoy!**

 **Oh, and I suddenly realized as I started writing this segment that I made a kind of big error. I'd thought that since both DW stories took place in London during the Blitz that I could conceivably have them occur at the same timey whimey time like I did with the Season 4 and Season 5 finales in another story. But then I remembered that "Victory of the Daleks" took place during the day, and "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" took place at night. Oops. So, imagine one story line happening at the same time of day at the other, and this works. I'm kind of imagining them both to be happening at night, if that helps...**

 **Yup. Still don't own Doctor Who.**

CHAPTER 10

 _Bollox._

Rose gazed up into the face of her first Doctor; his leather clad arms crossed in front of his chest, his mouth in a scowl, but his gorgeous blue eyes twinkled with the amusement that he really felt. He waited for her to answer him. Much as she had missed this him, she could feel the time lines warping around this moment and had to do something quickly.

Without thinking, she grabbed hold of the lapels of his leather jacket and snogged him so soundly that she saw stars. To her immense joy, after only a moment's hesitation, he snogged her back just as soundly. She had meant to only shock him so that she could get away, but as the kiss deepened, her mind went blank. Soon their tongues were fighting for dominance and Rose was only barely aware of his hands slipping up underneath her shirt. This him didn't have much hair to clutch, but that didn't stop her from running her hands through his buzz cut and setting her nerve endings on fire. All too soon, they broke away, breathless, both of their respiratory bypasses threatening to intervene.

Before he could say anything, she turned and ran away from him as fast as she could, gasping for breath along the way. She dared to glance over her shoulder. The Doctor stood still for a moment, as if trying to figure out what had just happened, before shaking his head and sprinting after her. _Great. Just great. Excellent plan, Tyler._

If that wasn't bad enough, she turned down a dark alley in an attempt to lose him, only to find that it was a dead end. The Doctor was close on her heels. She turned and faced him. His beautiful face belied confusion and hurt. It broke her hearts that she was the one who put that expression there. "Rose...?" he started.

But she interrupted him, raising her hand to stop him. "Doctor, don't. Just... don't."

"Don't?! Don't what?! I'm not the one who is sending out mixed signals here. One second, you kiss me within an inch of my life, and the next, you're running away as if I was a Dalek or something! Are you alright, Rose?"

"Yes..." she lied. "Well, no. I'm not. And you can't help me, either."

"And why not?" He assumed his customary stance with his arms across his chest again. Oh, how she'd missed that stance.

"Because I'm not your Rose. I mean, I am your Rose. I will always be your Rose. I'm just not _your_ Rose."

Realization dawned across his face, and his arms dropped to his sides. "You're from..."

"The future. Yeah. And I really need to get out of here."

"I should've known. My Rose never would've kissed me like that."

"Yeah, but only because I'm afraid you'd send me away if I did." He raised his eyebrows at that in surprise as she turned to leave again. This time, he didn't follow.

Still, he did call after her. "Rose?"

Something in his voice made her turn. "Yeah?"

"Are we... I mean, are you..."

Her face broke into a wide smile. "Yeah, we are. I am. Or, at least I will be really soon."

"How did you even know what I was trying to ask?" he spluttered.

"I know you. Been traveling with you for awhile now. Yes, I'm still traveling with you. Yes, we're still together, or at least we will be once I get back to you. And, if I may add... we're finally _together_. If ya know what I mean. In fact, how bout you time lock this memory and conveniently let your future self know where I'm at and that I'm ok? I'm sure you've gone ballistic by now. You're kinda helpless without me." She teased him, letting her tongue slip between her teeth in that grin that she knows he cannot resist. She then gave him another quick but chaste kiss on the lips and ran off into the distance.

-DW-

The Ninth Doctor knew it was probably a bad idea to follow her, could have disastrous consequences, actually, but he couldn't help himself. He was drawn to her like a moth to the flame. He didn't want her to know that she was followed, however, and kept to the shadows. _What are you doing, Doctor?_ He screamed at himself. With every step, he could feel time lines shifting, yet still he followed her, wanting to make sure she was safe; unwilling to let her go.

But Rose was aware of his every movement behind her, her enhanced biology sensing his presence as if she had some kind of Doctor detector installed in her brain. She supposed that now that they were the same species, she essentially did. She racked her memory of the first time she was here. She had to get her past self and this Doctor back together, or time could be rewritten in a way that could destroy everything. She figured that by this time, her past self must be dancing with Captain Jack Harkness on top of his stolen ship that was parked in front of Big Ben. Soon, they should reunite with the Doctor in the hospital. But what if the Doctor wasn't there? What was he doing, following her, anyway? Hadn't she made it clear that she was from the future and therefore off-limits? The ever flirtatious Jack had reacted to this news as if she was some kind of disease and let her go without much complaint. She expected him to follow her, but not the Doctor. _He_ was the one who taught _her_ the dangers of messing with your own time line, for crying out loud!

Then it hit her. She was the same species as him, now. Her past self had not yet become Bad Wolf, so was completely human. The Doctor probably picked up on this at some subconscious level. This him was still so close to the Time War, and his hearts were so scarred. Could she really blame him for reaching out to something that reminded him of his lost home, even if he wasn't fully aware of it? Suddenly, she knew that if the Doctor was going to meet her past self and Jack at the appropriate time and place, she'd have to lead him there herself and risk running into... well, herself! Things had just become very complicated, as if they weren't complicated enough already.

-DW-

Meanwhile, in a bunker on the other side of London, the Eleventh Doctor and Amy were in the middle of a crisis. Or rather, Amy was the one in the bunker with Winston Churchill. The Doctor was presently somewhere above London, attempting to save the Earth with a Jammy Dodger of all things.

"This is a TARDIS self-destruct button!" He lied to the Daleks who were assembled before him. "Trust me, you don't want to be anywhere near this thing when it goes off!"

"THE DOCTOR WOULD NOT USE SUCH A DEVICE!"

"Oh yeah? Try me!" One of the Daleks came forward and attempted to scan the biscuit. "Uh, uh, uh," the Doctor scolded. "One false move, and it will detonate! Care to tell me what you're doing? Last I met your lot, you were barely alive. Davros himself was destroyed!"

"DAVROS WAS NOT DESTROYED! DAVROS STILL LIVES! HE GIVES US THE PROGENITOR!"

"Oh, so, that's what the kids are calling it these days?" He said, eyeing the small device warily. He wasn't sure what to make of the Daleks' comments about their creator, either. He had been sure that his enemy had finally been destroyed when his duplicate blew up the ship. But then again, Davros had survived worse. The Doctor internally shivered when he thought of the prospect of meeting his arch enemy again. Well, maybe it wouldn't happen for awhile. Maybe it wouldn't even happen for him in this body.

Soon, he heard his own voice coming back to him as his "testimony" was repeated. The device activated, and large doors opened to reveal more Daleks, but not just any Daleks. These were newer, shinier, and strangely... colorful. He watched, mutely, as the original Daleks admitted their inferiority to the new and allowed themselves to be exterminated. Once again, he held up his Jammy Dodger.

"I'm warning you..." he started. But these newer Daleks appeared to be a bit more clever than the last and saw straight through this scheme. He popped the delicious biscuit in his mouth. Couldn't blame him for trying, anyway. "Alright, you got me. It's a Jammy Dodger. But for your information, I was promised tea!" Yes, it wasn't his best plan as far as plans go, but it really was the best he could come up with at the moment as his brain was a bit addled with new memories of chasing a future Rose down dark streets while a nanogene possessed child wearing a gas mask was lurking in the shadows.

Suddenly, the Daleks were extremely agitated. "WHAT ARE THE HUMANS DOING?"

"Danny Boy to the Doctor, Danny Boy to the Doctor! Come in Doctor!"

"Oh ho, Winston, you beauty!" The Doctor cried before excitedly telling the brave pilot exactly how to attack the Dalek ship. Making sense of his new memories and finding Rose would have to wait. At least now he knew that she wasn't far.

-DW-

Rose was leading the Doctor to the hospital when suddenly she remembered something important. He had to meet that girl, the creepy child's Mummy! What was her name, what was it! She turned around and stopped him in his tracks, caught.

"Doctor, this has gone on long enough! You have somewhere you need to be! Did you follow that girl?"

"What girl?"

"The one who was feeding the children?"

"Oh, you mean Nancy? Yeah, she showed me where our mauve object crashed. Then she said that I needed to talk to the Doctor. The irony!" He grinned.

"Well, I'm with her on this one! Look, something very special is about to happen here tonight, and some of my favorite memories of this you are to be made here. Don't look at me that way. Yes, you've gone and regenerated on me. Twice, actually! Now, stop following me, and go to the hospital and talk to the doctor! You'll meet me there. Along with a new friend. I promise!"

Rose wasn't sure if it was his common sense that sent him running off to the hospital without her, or if it was her assurance that she'd be there, but she was relieved to see him go. And to be honest, she was a bit sad, too. It was nice, very nice, running with him again. Now to find her Doctor. She was sure he'd found trouble. He always does.


	12. Chapter 11: The Doctor Dances

**So sorry that my updates are so infrequent. Thank you, my loyal readers, for sticking with me!**

 **Still don't own Doctor Who. If I did, Rose would still be on the show, and they'd be married and maybe have a time baby or two by now. And Clara would still have Danny, but that's another story completely...**

CHAPTER 11

Rose ran. The Doctor, her proper Doctor from her proper time line, was close. She could feel it! W _ell, maybe close is too vague a term,_ she thought, as she was running for what felt like a long time. She ran clear across London! After awhile, even her superior time lord biology was failing her as her chest heaved and her legs cramped. But now, her time sense told her that he was very close. As she caught her breath and rubbed her leg, she sensed that he was... straight up? _Well, unless this new regeneration of his has sprouted wings, I doubt he's flying._ She smiled to herself as the unbidden image of the Doctor sporting a pair of TARDIS blue eagle wings entered her mind. Rose snorted. _That wasn't me. Too cheeky to be him. Hello, Old Girl! Are you the one flying? Where is he?_ The TARDIS replied with a telepathic version of a shrug. _Thanks for the help. You've been fantastic._ She sighed. _Where are you, then?_ The TARDIS showed her a mental image of her dematerialization from the Dalek ship and materialization back in the bunker. _If you're in flight, or was recently, how'd you not know where your pilot was? Never mind that. I'm coming in._

She found the slightly less-than-helpful space and time ship in the closet inside the bunker, but no one else appeared to be nearby. Then she heard a commotion at the end of the hall and ran in to see Amy, the Doctor, and Winston Churchill ( _well, that's a surprise_ ) and a few soldiers standing around a man lying on the floor. No one paid her any mind. She heard the Doctor call the man Bracewell, and heard something about a bomb and Daleks getting away. Rose huffed. Not on her watch they weren't. She ran back to where the TARDIS was parked and dematerialized.

-DW-

Crisis averted ( _well, mostly averted_ , the Doctor thought to himself), the Doctor and Amy went to return to the TARDIS to resume their hunt for Rose. Only, there was a slight problem with that plan.

"Um, Doctor? Are you sure this is where we parked?" Amy asked as she opened the door to the cupboard they had disembarked from.

"Perfectly positive Pond! Oooh! Alliteration! I'm keeping that!" the Doctor replied, then stopped in his tracks. The TARDIS was gone! "It is possible that I moved it without remembering, I suppose..."

"Really?" Amy asked.

"Uh, no, actually..."

"Thought so."

-DW-

The TARDIS was in pursuit of the Dalek ship, piloted by one very angry pink and yellow Time Lady. These creatures were mostly responsible for her Doctor having to destroy his own planet, one of them alone killed many in Van Stratten's museum, they indirectly caused her first Doctor to regenerate, separated her from her love at Canary Wharf, and upon their reunion they forced him to create a meta crisis in order to survive before forcing said meta crisis to commit genocide in order to save the multiverse. And that's just what she knew of. The Doctor had witnessed them kill many others and destroy many more lives. This was ending now!

Rose piloted the TARDIS with expert skill as if she had done it all her life. She supposed that her special connection with the ship ever since Bad Wolf helped with that. She materialized on the Dalek bridge and emerged with the large gun she had carried during her reunion with the Doctor strapped to her chest. The Daleks all turned to face her, surprised at her appearance. She subtlety turned a hidden dial on her gun.

"Hey Daleks!" she yelled. "I have a message for you from the Bad Wolf and the Doctor! Exterminate!"

She pulled a trigger on the gun, and it, as well as the Dalek ship, exploded. The TARDIS dematerialized.

-DW-

"Remote return!" the Doctor crowed, aiming his sonic screwdriver at the spot where the TARDIS used to be. Within seconds, she appeared in all her blue box glory. "Best feature I ever installed, I say!"

Amy just shook her head at her Raggedy Man and went to enter when a series of golden flashes emitted from the windows. The Doctor got a sick feeling in his stomach as he ran inside, Amy on his heels. _That looked like, but no. It can't be!_

There, sprawled in the middle of the glass floor was a young woman who looked to be about 30 years old. She was thin, but still had curves, and had long, graceful limbs. She was ginger, her golden red locks ended in curls that would have reached her lower back if she was not so haphazardly sprawled. She was also unconscious. But it was her clothes that caught the Doctor's attention. She wore Rose's blue leather jacket and favorite jeans, and they were torn and singed as if they had been in an explosion. On her left hand, she wore a very familiar engagement ring. He was at her side in a minute.

"Rose," he whispered as he knelt to lift the woman into his arms. Pausing only to send the TARDIS into the vortex, he carried her to medbay.

"Pond!" he bellowed behind him. "Go make some tea! She needs tea!"

-DW-

When she awoke, it took her a minute to realize where she was. When she realized that she was in the medbay, she wondered how she got there, until she saw the Doctor across the room, diligently living up to his chosen name. He had his back to her, and was reading some sort of digitized chart.

"Hey" she squeaked out. Weird, but her voice sounded funny, almost as if it wasn't hers.

The Doctor turned and looked at her with sad eyes. He handed her a cup of tea. "Here, drink this," he ordered.

She obeyed. Funny, but the tea tasted different somehow. T _he Doctor must've put something in it. Some kind of medicine. Yeah, that's it. But that doesn't explain why the hands that are holding the mug don't look familiar. Or why the voice inside my head sounds weird, too..._ Suddenly, she remembered everything. The Ninth Doctor, the Blitz, Bracewell, the Daleks, the explosion that she engineered... The penny dropped.

"Oh no! I've regenerated, haven't I?" the unfamiliar voice moaned. The Doctor nodded, solemnly.

"Drink more tea, you'll feel better," the Doctor ordered. She obeyed silently, avoiding eye contact with him.

"What happened, Rose? You had me worried sick! I opened up to you, and you disappeared! Then as I try to find you, I end up chasing down Daleks in the middle of the London Blitz. Meanwhile, I'm being bombarded with new memories of chasing you through dark London streets with no idea why when I should be chasing down the child with the gas mask! Then once the Dalek situation is finished, the TARDIS is gone, and when she comes back, there's a flash and your clothes look like they've been through a war zone! And oh yeah, surprise, new you!"

The new Rose remained quietly sipping her tea, her regeneration addled mind trying to form a response. Slowly, she lifted her new eyes, now green, to look at him steadily in the face. "I'm sorry. I guess I did freak out a little when you told me about the Time Lord Victorious thing."

He raised his eyebrow at her. "A little?! Rose, you left the TARDIS mid flight! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?! You could have been killed!"

"Well, if it helps, my lunch threatened to make a reappearance."

"You're lucky that that's all that happened. And then, you're mucking about with the timelines!"

"Oh, so you remember that?" she looked at him sheepishly.

"Yeah, I do."

"So, why'd you follow me, then? Wouldn't have anything to do with the kiss, would it?" she replied cheekily with her tongue touched grin. He was relieved that that grin was not lost with regeneration. It might be a different mouth, but that was Rose Tyler's signature smile, and he was glad that it didn't change.

Now the Doctor looked sheepish. "I... well... I... err... That's beside the point! You interfered with our past, and then, then you stole the TARDIS!"

"Borrowed is more like it."

"Same difference! And now, you're, you're..."

"I'm what?"

"...Ginger."

A huge grin spread across her face. "Say what?"

"You, Rose Tyler, are ginger." He appeared to be pouting, not that he'd admit that, of course.

"I am?" She excitedly pulled a piece of her gorgeous locks in front of her face to get a good look at it. "I am!" She squealed with joy.

"I don't believe it. First time she regenerates, and she gets ginger! Meanwhile, I've regenerated nearly a dozen times, and no ginger!"

"Doctor, do you have ginger envy?" Her eyes glinted mischievously.

"What? No!"

"I think you do! And now with Amy on board, every single occupant of the TARDIS is ginger - except you. How does that make you feel?!" She was enjoying teasing him way too much, in his opinion anyway.

He muttered something under his breath that Rose was unable to make out, even with her superior hearing. It was probably a Gallifreyan curse word of some sort. Sensing that she had pushed his buttons hard enough, she suddenly grew serious.

"The Daleks are taken care of, by the way."

"What?"

"That's why I borrowed the TARDIS. I heard you talking to Amy and Bracewell about how you had to choose between stopping them or saving the Earth. I figured, why did you have to choose?"

"What did you do?" He was afraid to hear the answer.

"Their ship exploded, courtesy of the Torchwood Pete's World issued gun and its self-destruct button. I doubt they really died since they seem to always come back, but I didn't want them to get off scotch free."

"You were in the explosion then. That's why you regenerated."

She nodded solemnly. He sighed and took her in his arms. "Rose Tyler, what am I ever going to do with you?"

-DW-

Amy had trouble believing that Rose was really Rose, having not heard the customary regeneration lecture yet. Eventually, though, she came around. The fact that the Doctor was insistent that she was Rose probably helped with that. Why would he lie about such a thing? The Doctor teased Rose relentlessly about how he at least had had the decency to explain regeneration _before_ he regenerated the first time, albeit only just. Rose's response was to just roll her eyes and run off to the wardrobe to find a new outfit.

When she emerged not too long afterwards, the Doctor just shook his head and sighed. She had obviously picked that particular outfit on purpose. He supposed that it made sense in a weird sort of way. Ever since her return to him, she had favored that blue leather jacket, jeans, and boots. It just made sense that she now wore a pinstriped suit (though her version was a pretty shade of green with white stripes and had a short skirt), white trainers, and a tan trench coat that looked so similar to the one he used to wear that he had to double check that it wasn't the Janis Joplin coat that he had so adored in his previous body.

"I suppose you have a pair of brainy specs on you somewhere as well?" He remarked, dryly.

She grinned. "Yep!" She reached into her pocket and put them on, doing a little twirl as she did so. "So, what do you think?"

He swallowed. What did he think? He was thinking thoughts that were... inappropriate. He blushed redder than her hair. Oh, she knew what he was thinking. Clearing his throat, he said, "Well, if imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, then I am decidedly... flattered."

She giggled.

Amy, of course, did not get the joke, but said that Rose looked very pretty indeed.

-DW-

Later that night, while their companion slept, the last Time Lord and Lady emerged from the TARDIS and, being careful to keep to the shadows to avoid being seen, slipped into the basement of a hospital to reminisce in the way that only time travelers can.

"What you doing?" A young, blonde Rose sat in a wheelchair while her leather Doctor was across the room fiddling with his sonic.

"Trying to set up a resonation pattern in the concrete, loosen the bars."

"You don't think he's coming back, do you?"

"Wouldn't bet my life."

"Why don't you trust him?"

"Why do you?"

"He saved my life. Bloke-wise, that's up there with flossing. I trust him because he's like you. Except with dating and dancing." The Doctor stopped resonating concrete to look at her as she rolled back and forth in the chair. "What?"

"You just assume I'm..."

"What?"

"You just assume that I don't dance."

"What, are you telling me you do dance?"

"Nine hundred years old, me. I've been around a bit. I think you can assume at some point I've danced."

"You?"

"Problem?"

"Doesn't the universe implode or something if you dance?"

"Well, I've got the moves but I wouldn't want to boast."

Rose stood up and turned up the volume on the radio. It is playing _Moonlight Serenade._ She held out her hand to him.

"You've got the moves? Show me your moves."

"Rose, I'm trying to resonate concrete."

"Jack'll be back. He'll get us out. So come on. The world doesn't end because the Doctor dances."

Rose held out her hands to him. He turned to her and inspected her hands.

"Barrage balloon?"

"What?"

"You were hanging from a barrage balloon."

"Oh, yeah. About two minutes after you left me. Thousands of feet above London, middle of a German air-raid, Union Jack all over my chest."

"I've travelled with a lot of people, but you're setting new records for jeopardy friendly." He grasped her hands and looked at her apprehensively.

"Is this you dancing? Because I've got notes."

"Hanging from a rope thousands feet above London. Not a cut, not a bruise."

"Yeah, I know. Captain Jack fixed me up."

"Oh, we're calling him Captain Jack now, are we?"

"Well, his name's Jack and he's a Captain."

"He's not really a Captain, Rose."

"Do you know what I think? I think you're experiencing Captain envy. You'll find your feet at the end of your legs. You may care to move them."

And as the not-really-a-Captain Jack transported them to his Chula ship, a ginger haired Rose and bow tie clad Doctor continued to sway slowly in the darkness, and as the music ended, he did what he should have done then. He captured her lips in a long and passionate kiss.


	13. Chapter 12: Enter River

**Sorry about the very long delay, all. I was distracted by the awesomeness that was season 9 and stopped writing for a spell. Overall, a great season, I think. The only things that could've made it better were: I wanted Rose there - or the Doctor should've done all those things to bring Rose back, not Clara. Also, he finally made it back to Gallifrey, and it's relegated to a subplot?! Puleese! But I digress... This season has officially messed up my favorite Doctor ratings. Tennant is still #1, but I think Capaldi is fighting with Eccleston for #2 (9 was my first Doctor and will always have a special place in my heart). He has unseated Smith in my book. Don't judge me for not ranking any classic Doctors. I simply haven't seen enough of them to give a fair ranking. Though the 2 episodes I saw with Tom Baker recently were very good... Ok, enough of that.**

 **Here we are. After our brief sojourn into the Doctor and Rose's past, the main story arch returns as Rose finally meets the infamous (in her opinion, anyway) River Song. This is gonna be interesting... Oh, and if you get the reference to how Rose lost her earring, you're my new best friend. :)**

 **Again, I don't own Doctor Who**

CHAPTER 12

The trio of time travelers went to a museum. Rose loved it, because it had been quite awhile since they had last visited one. In fact, they hadn't gone to a museum together since before Canary Wharf. Going to museums with the Doctor were always amusing experiences, because he was quick to point out everything that was wrong. He also loved pointing out events that he participated in. Happily, she clung to his arm as they climbed up the stairs to the main entrance.

Amy, however, was less than thrilled. "Yeah, great. Can we go to a planet now? Big space ship? Churchill's bunker? You guys promised me a planet next."

The Doctor rolled his eyes at her. "Amy, this isn't any old asteroid. It's the Delerium Archive, the final resting place of the headless monks. The biggest museum ever!"

Rose slapped him. "Rude." He smiled sheepishly at her, but did not apologize, much to her annoyance.

But Amy didn't seem to mind. "You've got a time machine. What do you need museums for?"

Rose laughed. "It's how he keeps track, of course!" she replied, as she watched her fiancee flit about, pointing and letting the girls know that that was "mine", and that was "also mine".

Then Rose saw something that caught her eye: a silver hoop earring that was said to have been found in ancient Rome. "Hey, now, would you look at that! That's _mine!"_ She called Amy over to look.

"Here's a lesson for you, Amy: keep track of all of your modern accessories when you travel to the past, otherwise you will make archaeologists scratch their heads and wonder how the ancient Romans could make something that looked so modern! Of course, in my own defense, I was kind of stone at the time."

Amy looked at her, mouth agape. "You were stoned?"

The Doctor guffawed when he overheard that one, and Rose looked at her for a second before she, too, howled with laughter. "No! No! I mean, I was stone! I had literally been turned into stone! Like, I was a statue, and birds were pooping on me!"

Now Amy laughed. "That's hilarious! I mean, that must've been awful, I'm sorry. But... how'd you change back?"

Rose sighed. "Uh, it's a very complicated wibbly wobbly timey whimey story that we'll have to tell another time."

"Ok..."

"Trust me," the Doctor interjected. "You'll want to be sitting in a comfortable chair with a good cuppa in your hands to process _that_ one."

During this brief interlude, the Doctor had been flitting around, looking at every artifact in the room. Suddenly, he stopped. "Oooh. Now that's interesting." He pointed to a metal box with some intricate engravings on it.

Rose's eyes widened when she saw it. "Is that..."

The Doctor nodded in solemn affirmation. "The writing, the graffiti. Old High Gallifreyan. The lost language of the Time Lords. There were days, there were many days, these words could burn stars and raise up empires, and topple gods.

Amy realized that this was likely very important. "What does it say?"

The Doctor looked at Rose, apology written across his face. "Hello, sweeties."

-DW-

 _So, Rose Tyler, it appears that the shoe is finally on the other foot,_ the Doctor chuckled to himself as he observed the scene in front of him. They had just picked up another passenger, and it was none other than River Song herself. She had just casually told him the coordinates on the recording in the little box, and she had just as casually fallen into the Doctor's arms as she flew through space and landed in the TARDIS, as if she had done it dozens of times before. The Doctor couldn't help but be a little more than amused with Rose's reaction. Though she was wearing pinstripes, she eerily reminded him of his ninth self when she introduced him to Captain Jack Harkness.

She stood off to the side with her arms crossed across her chest, and she scowled at River when she thought no one was looking. Unlike the Time Lord she resembled at the moment, this Time Lady did not deny her feelings. She was jealous. Very jealous. Oh, she knew that this River was from his future, and that somehow she would become so important to him that she would learn his name, but did she have to be so bloody gorgeous too?! And the flirting! Ooh! This River could flirt! _And she knows how to fly the TARDIS, too!_ Rose's old insecurities, thought to be long forgotten, returned with a vengeance. _It's obvious that she is a much better match for him than I'll ever be. Maybe I should have stayed in the other universe after all._

The Doctor seemed to sense her thoughts, however, and after arguing with River about stabilizers and leaving the brakes on, he flew to Rose's side and took her hand in his, reminding her with his actions that she was the one he loved, and no one would ever be a better match for him than her. Still, this River was a real piece of work! Rose's eyes cast daggers in the direction of the woman who had very suddenly entered her life and completely taken over.

-DW-

The space ship, the _Byzantium,_ had indeed crashed in the middle of what appeared to be a barren wasteland. Amy, completely oblivious to the Doctor's distress, insisted that she was not getting cheated out of her first visit to another world and shoved him out the door after River. Rose reluctantly followed, still scowling at the curly haired blonde.

The adventure that followed was certainly one for the books. The weeping angel that was on board the crashed ship had survived and almost got Amy. Then they were lost in the catacombs where they were surrounded by an army of the fearsome not-statues. Soon, the chase led onto the spaceship itself and its very large forest that helped provide the oxygen for the crew. In the end, it was the crack, similar to the one from Amy's room as a girl, that ironically saved the day. The angels were consumed by the crack and therefore never existed. Amy was sent back to the TARDIS to recover from her ordeal as the others dealt with the aftermath.

On the ship, River was handcuffed. Rose, feeling more than a bit superior upon learning that River was a convicted felon, preened in front of River like a proud peacock. River only looked at her with sad eyes.

"You're only just now meeting me for the first time, aren't you Rose?" the convict asked.

"Yes, and I'm glad to have learned so much about you! I can't believe that I ever saw you as a threat. Octavian said that you had killed a man!" Her words were full of bitterness and hatred.

"Yes," River admitted, softly. All of the sexy bravado from earlier was gone, and she actually looked like she was about to cry.

The Doctor, who was at first enjoying Rose's jealous reaction, was now appalled at her actions. The Rose he once knew would have never lorded herself over another person like that. Was this a new quirk of this new regeneration? If so, he had to nip this in the bud before it became permament! River may be a convicted murderer that he knew next to nothing about, but the woman knew, or would know before she got to the Library at any rate, his real name. While that still didn't sit well with him, especially where Rose was concerned, he knew that without a doubt that it meant that River would someday become someone very important to him, and possibly Rose as well. Seeing the sadness in River's eyes as she looked at his fiancee confirmed his suspicions. If River's timeline was going backwards compared to theirs, then this would be the last time that River would see Rose. And Rose was acting like a prat!

He took Rose aside and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking at her directly in her eyes as he spoke softly. "Be nice, Rose. We may not know who she is, but it is obvious to me that she loves us both, and your words have hurt her deeply. And if her timeline is going in the opposite direction of ours, this will be the last time she ever sees you. Don't make her last memory of you be of you hating her. You're better than that, love."

Rose's eyes immediately grew soft and wet with unshed tears. He was right. Of course he was. She was ashamed of how she had acted and looked at him apologetically. He kissed her on the forehead. "We'll talk about it later, love. But for now, you'd better apologize to her, not to me."

Rose turned to face the other woman. She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, River. Really I am. It's just that I've heard about you from the Doctor, but I've never actually met you, and what I know about you isn't much at all. You make me uneasy. I'm sorry that I've been a prat. Can you forgive me?"

River gave a small smile. "Of course I forgive you, Sweetie. I can only imagine what's been going through your head all day what with my familiarity with the Doctor and all. I meant nothing by it, truly. You should know that no one and nothing will ever come between you two. Your love is the stuff of legends. Flirting just comes as naturally to me as breathing. It's a defense mechanism for dealing with my messed up life. After all, the two people I love most in the universe have not yet lived what I have lived through, and vice versa. I have to keep so much secret. So many spoilers. And every time I see you, you know less and less about me..."

"...and you know that one day the day will come when we don't know you at all." Rose finished for her, her hearts breaking. "Oh, River. I am so very sorry. If there is anything I can do..."

"Take care of that lump over there." River jerked her head, indicating the Doctor. "He's like a toddler, always getting into trouble."

Rose laughed at that. "Still? Oi! I would have thought that in the future he would grow up a little!"

River laughed at that as well. "Does he do that thing when he explains something very quickly and loaded with technobabble, leaving you reeling to catch up, or is that something he develops later in life?"

Rose howled, and found this conversation oddly reminiscent of one shared with Sarah Jane Smith some time ago. "Unfortunately, I happen to know that that behavior has been around since his third body at least!" Then, like Sarah Jane before her she asked, "Does he still stroke random bits of the TARDIS?"

River opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the Doctor. "Spoilers!" he yelled, also remembering the encounter with Sarah Jane and not wanting to go in _that_ direction again! Why is it the women always bonded over making fun of his idiosyncrasies? Unfortunately, his outburst only caused the women to laugh harder. He just gave up. He might understand the intricate workings of the universe, but he'll never understand women. Never!

Attempting to diffuse the situation, he addressed River somberly. "Octavian said that the man you killed was a good man."

River immediately grew sober. "Yes," she admitted softly. "A very good man. The best man I ever knew."

"Who?" Rose asked.

River's buoyant personality returned as she winked at both of them. "Spoilers!" she taunted before being transported to her prison cell.

Rose and the Doctor stood quietly together for a few minutes as they contemplated the day. "She said that our love was the stuff of legends and that no one and nothing would be able to split us up," Rose said, quietly.

The Doctor snorted as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her on the forehead. "So, in other words, she didn't say anything we didn't already know. Still, it's nice to have it reinforced."

But Rose thought that River's statement had revealed quite a bit. "So, she's not your wife, then."

Realization dawned on the Doctor as he recognized what she was referring to. "Good. I'm glad of that. Quite glad."

"But then, who _is_ she?"

-DW-

Amy was waiting for them when they returned. She had a look of uncertainty on her face. "Rose, can I talk to you? Alone?"

She gave a quick nod to the Doctor who retreated to the Library as the women took up residence in the kitchen, a good hot cuppa in their hands. "What's up, Amy?"

"It's just... When did you first know you were in love with the Doctor? That it was the real thing and not just an infatuation?"

Rose pondered this for a bit before answering. When did she know? Somewhere between "Run!" and "Forever" she mused. But when, exactly? She had felt inexplicably drawn to him from the start. Was it when she looked up at his ninth self and said, "There's me,"? Or maybe when he grabbed her hand in a Cardiff basement and looked at her and said, "I'm so glad I met you!" No. She most definitely fell for him in the secure boardroom surrounded by Slitheen when he looked across the table at her and said, "I could save the world, but lose you." But when did she _know?_

Rose looked at her blankly, knowing that Amy was waiting on an answer and couldn't wait for Rose to travel all the way down memory lane. "I... honestly don't know. I just... sort of... knew?"

Amy flopped back in her chair with a loud sigh. "Well, that was decidedly less than helpful."

Rose laughed a little at that reaction, before realizing that there must be a reason that Amy was asking. "Why do you want to know?"

Amy stared at her empty cup and fidgeted in her seat. "You know how when you all picked me up and we actually started traveling together that I said that I had to be back by tomorrow?"

Rose narrowed her eyes at her. "Amy, what's tomorrow?"

Amy sighed. "My wedding. To Rory."

Rose immediately ran to find the Doctor. Amy needed to be sorted. Immediately!


	14. Chapter 13: Paris in Love

**The muse has struck! We welcome Rory to team TARDIS. I hope you like this new original adventure! I will be popping in and out of canon from here on out. Also, I must note that the rating of this chapter has been changed to M. Nothing is explicit here, but it is implied, and I want you to be prepared.**

 **By the way, I've noticed I have a lot of likes and follows, but not too many of you review. If you like what you're reading, let me know! It encourages me to continue.**

 **I still don't own Doctor Who. Wish I did, though.**

CHAPTER 13

Rory Williams was a very lucky man, or so he was told. He was marrying the love of his life on the morrow. His best friends were standing around him, drinking, slapping him on the back, and clamping "the 'ole ball 'n chain" around his ankle - it was his stag party after all. In truth, he hadn't wanted this party, but his best friend Jack had started planning as soon as they announced their engagement, and who was he to destroy Jack's dreams?

It was all fun and games until the giant cake was wheeled out. "Aww, Jack! What did I tell you? No strippers! Amy's gonna kill me!"

"Relax, Rory! What Amy doesn't know isn't going to kill her!" The friend slapped the groom on the back.

"I hope you think differently if you plan on marrying your girl," Rory replied. "Women deserve respect!"

"Says the man who's marrying a kiss-o-gram. Besides, the stripper's not for you. She's for all of us single guys!"

"You're not single, Jack. Not really anyway."

"I haven't given her a ring, yet. Besides, she wouldn't care. In fact, she'd probably sign up to be inside the cake right now!"

All of their playful banter hushed, however, when the occupant of the cake popped out - and revealed himself to be a rather lanky man with a sharp chin and a bowtie. "Sorry, all. Was trying to make a more secretive entrance. Oh, there's a girl out there, Sally, I believe her name was. She's wearing nothing but a bikini. Could someone get her a coat? Thanks. I'm uh, looking for Rory Williams."

The man in question stepped forward. "I'm Rory."

Without warning, the strange man climbed out of the cake, grabbed Rory by the arm and said, "Well then, come along Pond!" before practically dragging him out the door towards a blue box that was parked on the sidewalk. Amy and another gorgeous ginger woman that he had never seen before stepped out.

Suddenly, his stag party wasn't quite so boring anymore.

-DW-

The plan was to take them on a romantic vacation where they could work themselves out. The Doctor suggested Venice. Rose shook her head and insisted on Paris, pleading him with her best imitation of his previous incarnation's puppy eyes. Cursing himself for being so weak, the Doctor piloted the TARDIS towards Paris. "Just make sure that you only use your powers for good," he huffed at her. She smiled innocently back at him as if she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Ah, Pari!" the Doctor sing-songed in a very fake French accent as he bounded out of the TARDIS. "Zee city of love! Romance! Love is in zee air! Go, love birds, and be in love!" Rose just rolled her eyes at her fiancee as she pulled him away before he could embarrass himself further. Amy giggled like a school girl as Rory held her protectively to his side. He still didn't trust the Doctor and Rose and really just thought that the whole barmy situation was some kind of alcohol induced hallucination or dream. He must've drank more than he thought! He really hoped that he wouldn't be hungover tomorrow.

The year was 1990, and it was Valentine's Day! Everywhere they looked, the time travelers saw couples. The plaza in front of the famous Eiffel Tower was especially crowded. Every once in awhile, a man would drop to his knees in front of a woman and hold out a ring. The woman would cry and nod, and they'd kiss. The whole scene was... well, even Rose had to admit that it was sickeningly sweet.

The plan was a double date at the 'Le Cordon Bleu, a posh high end restaurant just off of the plaza. Unfortunately, it seemed like everyone else in Paris had had the exact same idea, and it was practically impossible to get a table, even with the psychic paper. In the end, they were only able to secure a table for Amy and Rory. The Doctor handed over his billfold (the contents of which he had sonicked from a nearby cashpoint) so that Rory didn't have to spend his own money, and he and Rose walked arm in arm out into the chilly air.

"It's such a magical night!" Rose sighed as she leaned into his arm as they walked. "Really, I don't know how anyone could not fall in love on a night like this! This will sort those two out for sure!"

The Doctor only grunted in reply. There was something off about this place, he just couldn't put his finger on it. But then he looked down at his love, and all worries were forgotten. The sun had set, and the moon was just beginning to rise. The stars that she so loved seemed to have taken up residence in her eyes. In that moment, she just looked too beautiful, too perfect to belong to him. How is it that he had never noticed her beauty before? She was always beautiful, but he had never truly appreciated just how gorgeous she really was in this new body before now.

Rose felt him staring, and turned to face him, her tongue ready with a snarky, "Take a picture, it will last longer," retort, but as soon as her eyes met his, she found that whatever breath she had to speak was stolen. Blimey, but was he gorgeous! Very fit. How was it that she never appreciated how beautiful this incarnation of him was! She had always loved his looks, even when he had big ears and leather, and especially when he had great hair and pinstripes, but it was like she was seeing this him for the very first time.

He brought his hand to her cheek, his eyes big and dark and questioning. She nodded in reply as he bent down and gave her the greatest snog of her current incarnation, maybe even the best snog of all her lives, and that's saying something because she and her Doctor had shared some truly magnificent snogs. It wasn't enough. Soon, they were clawing at each other as if driven by an outside force. The bowtie was removed, and Rose's trench coat was discarded. They were working on removing each other's tweed and pinstripes before they suddenly stopped and pulled away from each other as if shocked. What on Gallifrey were they doing?!

"Rose, love, I'm sorry. Don't know what came over me," came his breathless apology.

"Yeah, me too. That was..." she gasped. "Intense. Even for us."

It wasn't as if they hadn't wanted to... to dance before. But they were trying to be respectable. The Doctor was very traditional and would not take his Rose to bed before they were wed out of respect for her. But that didn't mean they weren't tempted and that their private time hadn't gotten a little out of hand before. But it was never this frenzied, and never, ever in public!

It was then that they heard it - the sounds of pleasure rising around them. It was as if the entire populace of Paris had suddenly stopped and decided to give in to a good shag at the exact same moment. Yes, Paris was known to be the city of love, and as a whole was known to be more progressive than most other cities. If this was the 41st century in New Paris on New Earth, the Doctor wouldn't think anything of it. But this was 1990 in the original Paris - something was definitely wrong.

Rose sensed it too. "It was like we were under some sort of spell or something! What do you think it is? Mind control?"

The Doctor sighed. "No, it's a bit more serious than that, I'm afraid." He sniffed the air. Now, how was it that he didn't notice that before? "Smell that, Rose? Polynesius blossoms. The scent is completely undetectable to the human nose, and barely perceptible to even our heightened senses. It's undectable, yet very potent, and, if I may say, a hell of an aphrodisiac."

Rose's eyes twinkled and she practically shivered with glee at the prospect of another adventure. "And, let me guess. They're not native to Earth?"

"Nope!"

-DW-

Rose felt a little bit like that bird on the popular breakfast cereal as they "followed their noses" to the source of the aphrodisiac in the air. Of course, she was also loving it. Ability to regenerate aside, this was the first time since she discovered that she was a Time Lady that she could share in his special abilities. It was like sharing a special secret that no one else could ever uncover. Their noses led them to none other than the famous cathedral, Notre Dame.

"Smells like the scent is wafting in from somewhere up above," she pointed up to the bell towers.

"Right you are, Rose!" the Doctor beamed at her. "Care to have an unguided tour?" He asked, linking her arm with his.

But the doors, the wooden doors, were locked. "Still haven't gotten than wood setting, have ya?" Rose teased him. He sighed. She grinned at him. "Watch and learn."

She pulled a bobby pin out of her hair, and skillfully used it to pick the lock. The heavy door swung open. "Where did you learn how to do that?" he asked, clearly surprised and proud of this maneuver. "Torchwood teaching breaking and entering now?"

"Nah, Torchwood taught me a great many things, most of which were not useful. I learned this trick while growing up on the estate! Can't tell you how many times Mum and I locked ourselves out!" She grinned at him, letting a tiny bit of her tongue peek out between her teeth. He thanked all the gods he didn't believe in for allowing this regeneration to keep her signature smile. "Now, you can do your jiggery pokery on the lift."

He snorted at her in reply, but grinned madly as he activated the lift with his sonic. "Watch out for the disinfectant!" he whispered in her ear as they climbed aboard. She giggled and playfully slapped him in reply.

The lift was slow, and the distance they had to go was far. As they grew closer to the top, the smell increased in its potency.

"Doctor?" Rose asked, a tinge of worry in her voice. "We almost succumbed to the effects of this flower when we were on ground level. What's to stop us from giving in?"

"Don't look at me, and I won't look at you. This flower tricks you into gazing at each other, and the full effect is realized when your eyes meet."

"Easier said than done," she mumbled, trying not to ogle his adorable bum. Thoughts like this were not going to help.

"You said it," he mumbled his reply as he took in her very shapely legs. Their self-control was going to be stretched to the limit, he could tell. _Let's just hope that it doesn't break._

 _-_ DW-

Meanwhile, at the 'Le Cordon Bleu, the only couple that seemed not to be affected by the undetectable aphrodisiac were Amy and Rory. Everyone in the place seemed to be getting down and busy, even the wait staff. Throwing the money down on the table, Rory grabbed his fiancee's arm and they made a beeline for the door, wanting to get away from all of the sights and sounds as quickly as possible. When they made it outside, they were disgusted to see that it was more of the same.

Rory protectively put his arm around Amy and drew her into him under his coat, shielding her from as much of the commotion as possible. Not knowing where else to go, he led her to the TARDIS. To his shagrin, he found that her doors were locked, and neither he nor Amy had a key. The Doctor and Rose were nowhere to be found. There was nothing for it but for them to sit with their backs up against the blue wood and wait for their designated drivers to return. He just hoped that it would be soon. Amy had not said more than two words to him all night, and the scenarios surrounding them were not helping the situation one bit.

Still, she was contentedly snuggling up against him under his coat. That had to mean something, right? For not the first time, he was afraid that he was losing her.

-DW-

 _Oh Rassilon,_ the Doctor cursed to himself. _I can't decide if I am in heaven or hell. But either way, this is so not good._

The lift had reached their final destination and opened to the top of one of the bell towers of Notre Dame and a breathtaking view of the city that few people ever got to see. Not even the regular tours went this high, stopping a few levels down to be at eye level with the bells. He briefly wondered how often Quasimodo had made it up here when he was alive. Very nice chap, that. Rose would love to meet him. Maybe on a later trip...

 _Rose..._ Oh Rassilon, he couldn't afford to even think of her now. The smell of the flowers was now so strong that he was gagging. And the effect they had. They largely ignored each other, not even daring to acknowledge the other's presence, so afraid they were of losing their self-control.

Suddenly, there in the corner in an oversized window box, were the Polynesius blossoms in full bloom. They were a dark pink in color, almost fuchsia in tint, with large petals that looked silky and were practically begging to be touched.

"Whatever you do," grunted the Doctor. "Do not touch them!"

"How we gonna get rid of them?" Rose whispered back.

But his answer was interrupted by a deep voice coming up from behind them. "You'd have to go through me first!"

-DW-

It was getting late. And cold. Amy snuggled deeper into Rory's side and shivered. Rory was trying to get warm, as well. He also shivered for another reason. They had been sitting outside in the cold for about two hours, and Amy had not said a single word to him. He couldn't stand the silence any longer.

"Amy, are we ok?"

"'Course we are, Rory!" was all that she said.

For some reason, he just wasn't convinced.


	15. Chapter 14: Monty Python

**Hi all. So sorry about the delay in posting another chapter. I have had not one, but 2 plot bunnies assault me since I started writing this story, one of which I've started writing, another of which I'd like to write. But since I cannot keep up with multiple plot lines too easily, I'm finishing this story first. Or, that is at least my intention. Thank you all for putting up with me. :) As a reward for your patience, this chapter is really long!**

 **I still do not own Doctor Who, which might be a good thing because I did, we'd probably have to wait even longer than next Christmas for a new season... I also do not own Monty Python and the Holy Grail.**

CHAPTER 14 - Monty Python

When Rose heard the deep voice behind her, she was expecting to turn around and come face to face with a giant beast. She was decidely not expecting... "aww, what a cute little bunny rabbit!"

"That's not a bunny rabbit, Rose," the Doctor whispered, his voice laced with worry. "Ever see Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail?"

"What? But that was just a comedy sketch..." then realization hit. "You don't mean..."

His nod was barely perceptible.

"You wouldn't happen to have any Holy Hand Grenades in your bigger on the inside pockets, would you?" she whispered.

"Nope."

"Didn't think so."

-DW-

Rory was really starting to get worried. He was no doctor, and he certainly was not the Doctor, but he had had enough experience as a nurse to know that his fiancee was in trouble. Her body temperature had dropped drastically, and unnaturally so. Yes, the air was chilly, but it was still above freezing, and the temperature should not have been causing such a reaction. She was nearing hypothermia. To make matters worse, Amy was staring straight ahead, unmovingly. She had been staring for several minutes. Rory had tried waving his hand in front of her face, snapping his fingers, and even shaking her, but nothing seemed to break her out of her trance. He started running all of his medical knowledge through his head, desperately searching for a diagnosis. But he had never seen or heard of this happening before.

"AMY!" Rory cried in desperation, grabbing both of her shoulders and tightly shaking her with both arms. "SNAP OUT OF IT!"

But Amy did not respond.

-DW-

"DOCTOR!" Rose cried. The Doctor had closed his eyes and winced as the creature suddenly sprang on him with teeth bared, not having had time to prepare to have his neck bitten. But nothing happened.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. The not-bunny-rabbit was less than an inch from his face, jaw wide open to show his razor sharp teeth, but was frozen in mid-air. Wisely, he side-stepped out of its way.

He looked over at Rose. She, too, appeared to be frozen at first, but it was soon apparent that it was just shock that had temporarily immobilized her. "Oh wow. I can't believe that worked!" She exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Rose, did you just freeze time?" the Doctor inquired, pride radiating from his smile.

"Maybe..." she gave him a slight grin.

"Oh, you brillant girl!" he exclaimed, before capturing her lips in a chaste kiss.

He then returned his attention to the creature. Oh, he knew what he was dealing with. The creature's native language was a series of clicks and squeaks, so their species name was unpronounceable in any real tongue. He had encountered them once before when he was in his third body while working at UNIT and had so christened them the Montypythonians, in honor of their on screen appearance in the famous movie.

Despite their reputation from that film, Montypythonians were generally a peaceful species, and only attacked when provoked. Or, at least, that was the way they were when he had encountered them before. If they had turned predatory, this wouldn't have been the first time that a previously friendly species had done so. He had never had one attack unprovoked, and he certainly had never had one attack him before! Then there was the fact that it had spoken before it attacked. The Montypythonians were unable to speak, or so he'd previously thought. He supposed that there was a lot to learn about this species.

He turned his attention to the Polynesisus flower. Since time was frozen, it appeared that the flowers' amourous effects were as well. Rose's plan to freeze time was indeed brillant, if a bit dangerous. It certainly bought them time to figure out exactly what they were dealing with.

-DW-

Amy had ceased staring. Her eyes came back into focus, and her temperature and breathing (which Rory had only just now noticed had all but stopped) returned to normal.

"Rory?" she looked at him, surprised. "What are you doing here? Where's the Doctor and Rose? Where are we, anyway?" It was then that she realized that they were leaning against the TARDIS. "When are we?"

Rory looked at her, worry filling his gaze. "You mean, you don't know?"

She shook her head.

"The Doctor came and rescued me from my stag party. I mean, Jack was throwing it, what did I expect? I'm glad I was rescued. He and Rose then brought us here to Paris, somehow, in that blue box there. And we, you and I, I mean, went on a date. Then everyone, I mean, _everyone_ started shagging. Except us. Then you went in a sort of trance ans now you're not, and really, everything just feels like a barmy nightmare, and I am so going to kill Jack if I'm hungover in the morning!" Rory's voice had started out calm, but as he went on, he began to sound more and more panicked, so now it was apparent that he was in near hysterics.

"Oh," was all Amy could say. She honestly did not remember any of that. She was glad that Rory was here, though. She and Rory had grown up together, making up stories of the mad man in the big blue box. She knew that he had largely placated her, never truly believing that the Doctor was real. When her Raggedy Man had returned to her so many years later and cashed in on his promise of time and space, how could she refuse? But deep down, she had missed Rory, greatly.

"I don't remember any of what you just told me, but I am so glad you're here, Rory."

"Yeah?" a faint smile crept across his face.

"Oh, come here, Stupid Face!" Amy teased, pulling him in for a kiss.

When they broke away, breathless, Rory pulled his love into his arms. "We're okay, aren't we?" he whispered.

"Of course we are, Rory!" This time, though he couldn't understand it, he believed her.

Suddenly, she stood to her feet, and pulled him up to his. "So, Paris, you said? Well, let's go explore!"

But as they set out, they immediately knew that something wasn't right. Birds were frozen in midair. People everywhere were frozen in... compromising positions to say the least. And everywhere was quiet. Too quiet.

Suddenly, cutting across the silence was the sound of bells. The bells of Notre Dame.

Amy flashed her fiancee a grin, before yanking his hand and practically dragging him down the street towards the source of the sound.

-DW-

"Rose, how long do you think you can keep time frozen?" the Doctor asked, bending down to inspect the blooms more closely.

"I don't know. I've never done it before!" came her slightly panicked reply. "I just remember you saying something awhile back about feeling time and being able to bend it or something, and when I saw that... that _thing_ jump at you, I had to do something!" Her eyes were full of apology. She knew that playing with the ebb and flow of time was dangerous.

"Don't apologize. You likely just saved me from a most painful regeneration. I'm just getting used to this face. No need to change it just yet. We'll just have to be very careful not to disrupt too much while we operate outside of time."

She nodded. "So, what exactly are we dealing with?"

"Montypythonians."

"You're joshing me."

"I'm serious! Their real name is a series of clicks and squeaks, much like their language. I named them."

"Of course you did." She rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at him. "Okay. So what are these Montypythonians doing here? And what's with the aphrodisiac blooms? Do they have some kind of weird fettish or something?"

"Rose Tyler. Always asking the right questions!"

"And you only ever comment on my ingenious questions when you don't know the answers. Am I right?"

"Rose Tyler, I'll have you know that there is nothing in this universe that escapes my notice," he bragged, adjusting his bow tie.

"Right. Now pull the other one. This is me you're talking to, you git."

"Quite right, too. So, since you caught me not knowing the answers, what do you say we go and find some?"

She took his proffered arm with glee. "Allons-y?" she winked at him, tongue poking through her grin. "I mean, we are in France, and you don't say that anymore."

He was about to say something cheeky in response, but _BONG, RINNGG, BONG, BONG, RINNGG..._

"THINK THERE'S SOMEONE IN THE BELLTOWER WITH US WHO ISN'T FROZEN?" Rose attempted to yell over the noise.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU, ROSE! SOMEONE'S IN THE BELLTOWER WITH US WHO ISN'T FROZEN!" the Doctor bellowed back. With that, he grabbed her hand, and ran down the rickety stairs to the bellfry. There was no one there.

"I THINK IT'S COMING FROM THE OTHER TOWER!" Rose tried yelling again. But it was no use. Superior Time Lord hearing or not, there was no way to be heard over the noise.

Luckily, the Doctor got the gist of what she was trying to say. He grabbed her hand and led her down a few more flights of stairs. She thought that they were going to go all the way to the bottom and then go up into the other tower, but it appeared that the Doctor had another idea. As soon as they were even with the edge of the roof, the Doctor climbed out of the window and began running along the ridgepole towards the other tower.

"Oh, you cannot be serious!" Rose muttered to herself as she reluctantly climbed out the window after him. Daleks, no problem. Cybermen, bring them on. But running the length of a ridgepole across one of the most famous cathedrals in the world? Heights were totally not her thing. If she survives this, she will kill him!

-DW-

Amy and Rory arrived at Notre Dame just as the Doctor and Rose were making their way across. "Ya reckon they need our help?" Amy asked, conspiratorially, pointing at the duo high above them.

Rory knew that look. He knew that when she gave him that look with that gleam in her eyes and that certain smile that resistance was futile. Amelia Pond knew exactly how to get what she wanted. And it appeared that what she wanted was to risk their lives helping a pair of aliens risking their own lives for reasons he didn't fully understand. The next day, he planned to vow to be with her "'till death do we part". He just had hoped that he'd actually be able to make the vow before he was expected to live it out!

Finding the lift to be as frozen as the rest of the world, they took to the stairs. Finally, gasping for breath, they arrived in the bellfry of the second tower. It appeared they were not a moment too soon.

The scene would have been comical if it were not so utterly terrifying. Rose was trapped in what appeared to be an overgrown cage from a pet store. The Doctor was strung up by his ankles on one of the ropes to the bells and was dangling upside down; his tweed jacket was off and discarded in a pile in the corner of the room, and his shirt had somehow freed itself from both his trousers and his braces and was dangling down in front of his face. But the most intriguing thing about the situation was that it appeared that they were both being interrogated by an overgrown bunny rabbit.

The bells had stopped their infernal ringing, a relief to Rory, whose ears were still ringing. Amy, however, was disappointed, because she was hoping that the noise would cover up their entrance. Amy eyed the long ears of the creature and wondered just how sensitive they were. With any luck, ringing the bells had rendered him deaf as a post, even temporarily. She began looking around the small room, trying to figure out what to do. She locked eyes with Rose, who took advantage of the creature's preoccupation with the Doctor and gestured to her right with her head. It took Amy a few seconds to get what Rose was saying before she saw it: a large stone had fallen out of the aging masonry and was laying on the floor. She was sure that that stone would knock the creature out if hit in the head with it - provided she could even lift it, of course.

She had to try. She stood on her toes to whisper in Rory's ear. "I'm going to make my way over to that stone. I need a distraction."

Rory looked at her as if to say, "Are you crazy?", but before he could voice those thoughts, she was off, slowly crawling along the floor to the dislodged stone.

He had to think of something, quick. "HEY!" he yelled. The rabbit creature turned around and bared his teeth. Blimey, but they looked sharp. Obviously not a rabbit, then. As if the fact that it was taller than Rory was not enough of a giveaway. Not knowing what else to do, he jogged up to it, poked it, and said, "Tag! You're it!" before sprinting down the stairs. The creature followed.

Amy went into a panic. "HEY, STUPID FACE! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO KEEP IT IN THE ROOM SO I COULD WHACK IT IN THE HEAD!" she hollered after him, half hoping that the creature would hear her and come back up after her instead. But it didn't.

Knowing that the best way she could help her fiancee now was to release the Doctor and Rose, she made quick work of untieing the former who retrieved his sonic from his discarded jacket to release the latter. The women immediately started for the stairs to give chase, but the Doctor just told them to wait a minute.

Rory had already made it down the stairs and out the front door of the building, the creature not far behind, and gaining. The Doctor picked up the stone. It really was quite heavy, and he struggled with it. Amy probably wouldn't have been able to lift it anyway. Quickly doing the math in his head, calculating velocity, weight, and speed, he expertly released the stone out of the bellfry window.

Amy screamed, but she needn't have worried. The stone hit its target squarely in head, flattening the giant rabbit onto the sidewalk below. Hearing the thud, Rory stopped, turned around, realized he was safe, and collapsed to the ground, panting. Amy ran to his side as quickly as she could.

The four of them then made the long climb back up the first tower, where the original Montypythonian, obviously just a bit younger and therefore not yet immune to the effects of time, was still frozen in midair. The Doctor casually walked up to it and grabbed it by the ears.

"Young Montypythonians are completely helpless when grabbed by the ears. How about we give this one the traditional lecture on how its not nice to take over planets that are not your own?"

Rose giggled, and time returned to normal. The rabbit-like creature, speaking through a translation device that he wore around his neck that gave him a deep, menacing, growl, was extremely apologetic. It seems as though his father, the large creature that was now dead, got it into his head that Earth would be a wonderful place to build their new colony, but first, he had to rid himself of the population. His idea was that if every woman on Earth got pregnant at the same timethen in nine months, the world population would instantly double. Resources would be used up almost instantaneously, and soon, everyone would die of hunger, thirst, or cold. It was a sick plan, albeit riddled with holes, but the older creature was hell bent on carrying it out.

The younger creature did not agree with his father's plans, but was helpless to stop him. He promised to destroy the flowers immediately, vacate the planet, go home, and tell his people never to return. His father was not well-liked on his planet, and he was really not sorry to see him gone. With that, he and the plants that had caused so much trouble, vanished.

All over Paris, people were embarrased; many were finding themselves in compromising situations with complete strangers. Standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower to help boost the signal, the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to turn back time twenty four hours, so that the events of the day never happened. It was the least he could do. Sometimes, playing with the ebb and flow of time could be very beneficial.

Back on the TARDIS, the time traveling quartet celebrated with wine that was bottled in Paris.

"Doctor, Rose," Rory inquired. "I'm glad that we saved the day and all, and it really was kind of fun, in a weird sort of way. But, what happened to Amy? It was like she was in a trance, and when she came out it, she had no memory me joining us on the TARDIS."

As if on cue, Amy stood up from the table, dropped her glass in the sink. Rose hadn't noticed it before, but something was off. The doctor brushed it off as nothing, some kind of adverse reaction to the aphrodisiac. Maybe she was allergic?

Rose wasn't so sure. Amy really hadn't been herself since the incident with the Weeping Angels. They were creatures of time, and Amy only really became herself when time was stopped. There was something bigger at play here. She was sure of it. And she prayed to every God that she didn't believe in that she was wrong.


	16. Author's Note

**Hey all, so sorry to do this to you, but I'm temporarily putting this story on hiatus. RL is nuts right now (I'm MOH in my sister's wedding in a month... eek!) and my muse has gone MIA. If you find her, please let me know where she's gone. You all want to know what happens next in this story? Well, so do I! :P Maybe my muse will return after the wedding...**


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